Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a rejuvenating, painless therapy where pure oxygen is administered in a pressurized environment of at least 1.5 ATA. It affects the body on a cellular level, enhancing and providing the necessary tools that allow the body to naturally heal itself. This therapy can be appropriate for many indications, for oxygen is one of the elemental building blocks of life.
Above, we mentioned that oxygen must be administered in a pressurized environment. The pressurized environment is a very crucial aspect of medical HBOT. Due to several laws of physics, chemistry, and thermodynamics, when the pressure around the body is increased, oxygen saturates all bodily fluids. Naturally, hemoglobin is 98% saturated with oxygen, and it is next to impossible to saturate the hemoglobin further. So, when oxygen enters the body, since it cannot bind to the hemoglobin, it binds to the plasma. When patients experience HBOT at 1.5 ATA or greater the oxygen level of the blood is dramatically increased.
Once in the body, the oxygen allows the body to heal itself. Body areas that have restricted blood flow do not have the resources (i.e., oxygen levels) to allow the body to repair itself; body cells go dormant and, though they do not function correctly, they are not able to die or replenish themselves. The presence of oxygen allows the body to clear cells that will not be able to function and provides the cells that can be recovered with the energy necessary to function.