Hyperbaric Oxygen for PTSD Treatment

Chicago residents with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury may benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD is an approved adjunct treatment. The symptoms of a concussion or traumatic brain injury can be alleviated by hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

As a result, more oxygen can be carried by the blood and used by the body’s tissues. Similarly to how a medicine is dosed, oxygen is titrated.

The dose is determined by the duration and frequency of treatment as well as the amount of oxygen in the gas breathed multiplied by the absolute atmospheric pressure within the hyperbaric chamber.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For PTSD

Many veterans who suffer from PTSD also have traumatic brain injuries. Therefore, many people ask if PTSD is linked to or the result of brain injury in certain circumstances.

However, a brain injury is not always the cause of post-traumatic stress disorder. Neuroimaging studies show that PTSD can damage multiple brain regions even when no physical trauma has occurred.

The insular cortex, the hypothalamus, and the adrenal glands can all be affected negatively, as can the hippocampus. These brain regions are responsible for identifying potentially dangerous situations.

They regulate how we react to the world around us, how we learn to be afraid of certain things, and how our minds and hearts communicate with one another.

That’s why it’s not uncommon for sufferers of PTSD to have abnormalities across the board.

The symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be alleviated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), in which the patient is exposed to 100% oxygen in a pressurized chamber.

When you breathe pure oxygen at high pressure, the oxygen enters your bloodstream by diffusion. When this oxygen-rich plasma reaches the barrier, it can diffuse up to three times deeper into the tissue than normal.

Tissue damage caused by the occlusion or subsequent hypoxia can be repaired in a pressured environment because the organism receives at least 10 times its typical supply of oxygen.

The formation of new blood vessels, which are necessary for the delivery of oxygen to the tissues, is made possible by the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

As new blood vessels begin to form, circulation of red blood cells begins, bringing with them an increased supply of oxygen to the area that was injured. This helps the body’s natural healing processes get better at repairing damaged tissue, which in turn reduces the symptoms of both traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Research Confirms the Benefits of HBOT for PTSD

Research investigating the effectiveness of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD and traumatic brain injury (TBI) has witnessed a rise in recent years (PTSD).

In a study that was published in Medical Gas Research, Dr. Paul Harsh examined 29 active and former members of the armed forces who had suffered from mild traumatic brain injuries.

Everyone who took part in the study was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome, and some even developed post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their injuries.

After receiving forty sessions of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), 52 percent of patients who initially fulfilled the criteria for the PTSD Checklist-Military diagnosis no longer fulfilled those criteria.

The signs and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder all improved to a certain extent.

After the research, ten of the original twelve people who participated in the study and admitted to having suicidal thoughts indicated that they no longer had those ideas.

When it comes to treating PTSD, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been demonstrated to be one of the most effective treatments in a relatively short amount of time (four weeks).

Symptoms of PTSD

Nightmares and extreme anxiety are normal reactions to trauma. Most people, however, can overcome their trauma and go on with their lives over time.

But with PTSD, those emotions stick around. Usually get worse to the point that they become a burden on regular life. Sometimes signs and symptoms don’t show up right away.

However, PTSD might be triggered by a different event months after the first traumatic experience. There are four primary categories of PTSD symptoms:

Memories – Mental images from the event may come flooding back when the person recalls the memory. Ordinary things can trigger powerful emotional and physical emotions when they remind you of the past.

Avoidance – Persons suffering from PTSD often want to avoid any kind of discussion or contemplation about the traumatic event that caused their condition. They may also try to avoid anything that brings back memories of the traumatic experience. The person may start to feel emotionally distant, disengage from social interactions, and lose interest in routine tasks.

Alterations in Mood and Thoughts – People with PTSD may show a decline in their emotional or cognitive state. They might have a pessimistic outlook on life in general. Issues with recall could develop. Trouble connecting with loved ones and keeping friendships going is an issue. Emotionally numb, they lose interest in once-loved hobbies and struggle to find the good in any situation.

Alterations to Physiological and Emotional Reactions – People with PTSD may be more easily scared and more on edge than others. Both sleep and focus suffer as a result. They may come out as hostile and combative, and they might engage in risky behaviors like binge drinking.

Conventional Methods of PTSD Treatment

Psychotherapy and medication are the two primary methods of treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

In addition to alleviating symptoms, therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder teaches coping mechanisms.

Substance abuse, depression, and anxiety are all included here. Antidepressants and anxiety medicines are common prescriptions. Since there is no universally effective treatment, finding one that helps a certain patient requires a process of elimination.

Mental health professionals have a variety of tools at their disposal, such as:

Cognitive Therapy – Psychological trauma is the primary focus of cognitive treatment for PTSD. A therapist will work with patients to identify and comprehend the trauma while also modifying the patient’s thinking and behavioral response to the trauma.

Exposure Therapy – Through controlled exposure, patients in exposure therapy are able to confront their traumatic experiences and heal. Mental exercises, journaling, and even VR can all play a role in this form of treatment. The trauma fades from the person’s consciousness as time passes.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) – Exposure treatment is used in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EDMR). While painful thoughts arise, the patient concentrates on a particular sound or eye movement. To put it another way, this facilitates the reprogramming of behavioral responses to traumatic memories.

Stress Inoculation Training (SIT) – The purpose of this therapy is to lessen anxiety levels by teaching coping strategies. As part of a larger treatment plan for traumatic stress, this type of therapy is frequently employed. The goal of this treatment is to modify the patient’s stress response.

Present-Centered Therapy (PCT) – Present therapy works a little differently in that it does not focus on the trauma. Instead, it provides problem-solving skills in order to deal with the trauma.

What is the Process of HBOT?

A patient can undergo Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD in a private treatment chamber or in a larger room built to accommodate multiple patients at once. These are the three phases of treatment:

You will spend the first half of the session reclining on a table and breathing oxygen through a mask as the pressure in the chamber is slowly increased (this is known as the compression phase).

After the pressure has been adjusted to the ideal range, you will be instructed to put on your mask and breathe in the oxygen. This time, which could last a few hours, is ideal for unwinding with a favorite pastime like reading, watching TV, or listening to music.

A medical expert should always be present throughout any HBOT treatment. They’ll brief you on what to anticipate, suggest appropriate break times, and demonstrate how to pop your ears to alleviate pressure.

After your session of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for PTSD, you will be able to exit the chamber, at which point the pressure will restore to its normal level. In most cases, it lasts for a number of weeks, and each of those weeks constitutes a separate session.

Through Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the combined action of both hyperoxia and hyperbaric pressure together with, oxygen fluctuations generated by a pre-defined protocol may target both oxygen and pressure-sensitive genes, resulting in improved mitochondrial metabolism with anti-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Moreover, these genes induce the proliferation of stem cells, augmented circulating levels of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), and angiogenesis factors, which induce angiogenesis and improve blood flow in the ischemic area.

In recent years there is growing evidence that HBOT-induced brain neuroplasticity leads to the repair of chronically impaired brain functions in post-stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients with prolonged post-concussion syndrome, even years after the brain insult, as well as in healthy aging adults.

HBOT can also induce neuroplasticity and significantly improve the clinical symptoms of the most common prototype of central sensitization syndrome – fibromyalgia syndrome.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen for PTSD Treatment

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For PTSD

Research Confirms the Benefits of HBOT for PTSD

Symptoms of PTSD

Conventional Methods of PTSD Treatment

What is the Process of HBOT?

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