How Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Supports Recovery After Surgery
Without oxygen, your body doesn’t have the tools needed to rebuild healthy tissue or support blood flow. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy enhances your body’s natural healing process to return you to your life faster.
According to a 2022 study, post-surgery complications affect roughly 31% of patients in the United States. Surgery is a complex process that increases the risk of issues such as slower healing or worsening existing conditions. With so much uncertainty after a procedure, hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides millions of people with pain relief and a faster recovery.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the growing health benefits of the hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber for surgery patients. You’ll learn about how it affects different parts of the body, its role in healing, and how it can even reduce the risk of chronic pain.
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy And How Does It Work?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (shortened to HBOT) is an emerging medical treatment showing remarkable benefits in the healing process. The technology originally emerged as a treatment method to help scuba divers with decompression sickness.
Decompression sickness occurs when small bubbles of nitrogen appear in different parts of the body. This phenomenon is due to how the higher pressure affects nitrogen’s ability to leave tissues and the bloodstream. The result caused scuba divers to experience aches, nausea, and inflammation after returning to the surface.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers provided people much-needed healing after a deep diving trip. Over the years, hyperbaric oxygen therapy evolved to provide pain relief and recovery in several areas of life, such as fertility and post-surgery recovery.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by providing an oxygen-rich environment in a pressurized chamber. This cutting-edge solution vastly increases the amount of oxygen carried throughout the body, ensuring blood vessels and tissues are receiving what they need to repair themselves.
There are similar treatments that also help fight off infection and aid the body’s natural healing processes, such as detox ozone therapy.
The Challenges Of Post-Surgery Recovery
Post-surgery recovery comes with a host of challenges. The body has to work overtime to repair itself after experiencing the stress that comes with anesthesia and blood loss.
Below are a few of the most common challenges of people recovering from a surgical operation.
Chronic Pain
Inflammation and soreness is extremely common after surgery. From lacerations to stitches, your body will frequently be swollen or sore as it tries to heal.
This chronic pain often leads to limitations in day-to-day movement and sleeping issues.
Infection
While medical professionals are careful to reduce this risk, post-surgery recovery always comes with a risk of infection. Infection puts extra stress on the immune system to ease inflammation and fight off harmful bacteria.
Thrombus
Also known as a blood clot, post-surgery complications increase the risk of your blood clotting improperly and causing a return trip to the doctor’s office.
Blood clots can cause issues such as a deep vein thrombosis, a clot that appears in major extremities such as the arm or leg. If these clots get loose, they can get stuck in the lungs and cause difficulty breathing and chest pain.
5 Ways Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Supports Post-Surgery Recovery
When surgery can take weeks or even months to recover from, hyperbaric oxygen therapy offers a way to heal better and faster. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy ensures your body is receiving a rich supply of oxygen to aid your natural healing processes.
Below are a few benefits you’ll enjoy as a supplement to post-surgery recovery.
Supplementing Your Body’s Healing Process
Your body is a work of art, working around-the-clock to keep blood flowing and tissues strong. When post-surgery recovery slows your body down, HBOT provides extra oxygen to get you back up to speed.
This therapeutic solution helps you grow new blood vessels, repair tissue, and heal wounds faster.
Reducing Painful Inflammation
Many surgery benefits seek out this benefit since post-surgery recovery frequently comes with swollen limbs and stiff movements. HBOT helps immensely with reducing inflammation and providing relief during the recovery process.
Increasing Energy Levels
It’s natural to be fatigued after experiencing a surgery. When you miss your friends or want to meet with family, HBOT can increase your energy levels and help you stay awake longer.
A common report from hyperbaric oxygen therapy patients recovering from surgery or cancer treatment is feeling more energetic and alert after a session.
Improving Your Immune Function
Your immune system has to work twice as hard after surgery. As a result, it can be a little weaker than usual and increase your risk of infections or illness during the recovery process.
HBOT helps strengthen your immune system to help you fight off bacteria and keep illnesses at bay. It’s particularly helpful if you have a compromised immune system.
Decreasing The Risk For Chronic Pain
According to a 2018 study, between 20% to 56% of patients experience chronic pain after a surgical procedure. When chronic pain can significantly impact your quality of life, hyperbaric oxygen therapy decreases this risk by delivering oxygen straight to the source.
HBOT’s oxygen-rich environment targets inflammation to reduce the risk of long-term issues such CRPS (or chronic regional pain syndrome). It can also help manage existing conditions that have been worsened by surgery, such as fibromyalgia.
The Bottom Line
Your post-surgery recovery should be relaxing and supportive of your healing journey. Alongside a prescribed treatment from your surgeon and general doctor, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help further.
We provide a state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber that supports a variety of treatments. From post-surgery recovery to managing chronic pain, we work hard to improve your quality of life with long-lasting results. The average HBOT session involves laying down in a tube-like chamber for 60 to 90 minutes. Treatment is a soothing process where you can listen to music, read a book, or even take a nap.
We also provide additional treatments such as detox ozone therapy to help you fight off bacteria and viruses that could delay the healing process. When it comes to your health, we understand that meeting your individual needs are key to living a full and healthy life.
Contact us today to set up an appointment and start experiencing the healing effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
References:
Satish B Dharap, Priya Barbaniya, and Shantanu Navgale (2022). Incidence and Risk Factors of Postoperative Complications in General Surgery Patients. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9714582/
Philippe Richebé, M.D., Ph.D.; Xavier Capdevila, M.D., Ph.D.; Cyril Rivat, Ph.D. (2018). Persistent Postsurgical Pain: Pathophysiology and Preventative Pharmacologic Considerations. https://pubs.asahq.org/anesthesiology/article/129/3/590/22257/Persistent-Postsurgical-PainPathophysiology-and
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