Wound Care
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Our wound care specialists use hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) to help you heal, fight infection, and encourage the formation of new small blood vessels.
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical treatment where patients breathe 100% oxygen under increased barometric pressure. This treatment provides 10 to 15 times higher levels of oxygen in your blood plasma, helping tissue growth, enhancing antibiotics, and stimulating production of blood vessels to speed up wound healing.
Conditions We Treat
Often used alongside other treatments, HBO2 therapy has been shown to benefit many conditions, including:
- Diabetic foot ulcers
- Chronic bone infections (osteomyelitis)
- Radiation wounds or symptoms caused by radiation, such as pain, rectal bleeding, or bladder bleeding
- Non-healing surgical skin flaps and grafts
- Crush injuries
- Necrotizing infections
Why Choose Us for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Certain wound care centers provide therapy in either a Class B chamber, which holds one patient, or in a Class A chamber, which can hold up to 12 patients. These options allow you to choose a location close to home or select an environment you are most comfortable with.
The hyperbaric chamber at Kettering Health Miamisburg (formerly Sycamore Medical Center) is a Class A chamber, the largest-in-diameter–multi-place chamber in Ohio. This enables medical attendants to join you inside the chamber, so they can comfort you and keep you in constant communication with the chamber operator and the physician.
Kettering Health Hamilton has two Class B hyperbaric chambers that seat one person each if you prefer a more private setting.
Who Is a Candidate?
Candidates for HBO are those who have a wound that will not heal with typical treatment methods. Before being treated, patients typically undergo 30 days of traditional wound care methods. If recovery doesn’t occur, then HBO can be introduced as a treatment option.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Our Hyperbaric team consist of Hyperbaric Certified technicians and nurses. Our Medical Director is Boarded in Hyperbaric Medicine. Our Hyperbaric team has over 120 years of combined Hyperbaric experience. All to say, you are in good hands.
Hyperbaric Therapy is a treatment where you are placed in a chamber, under increased atmospheric pressure, while breathing 100% oxygen. This pressurized oxygen treatment increases your oxygen level 10-15 times normal. This provides all sorts of physiological advantages in your body such as stimulating new blood vessel growth, fighting infections, and decreasing swelling.
We have personnel that are experts in handling insurance preapprovals. We will work with you through the insurance process and explain your coverage prior to you starting treatment.
Our wound and hyperbaric physicians will consult with you prior to you starting hyperbaric therapy. Our physicians will determine if hyperbaric therapy is appropriate and the number of treatments needed, dependent on your diagnosis. Typically, a patient will receive 20 -40 treatments.
HBO2 therapy is typically given once a day, five days a week, for several weeks. Like a course of antibiotics, it works best when taken consistently for the full course your wound care provider prescribes, so we strongly encourage keeping every scheduled appointment. Following your treatment plan is the most important factor in your healing.
Once our physician has ordered your treatments, and we have received insurance approval, we will schedule your treatments with you. Treatments are provided Monday through Friday, at 9am and at 1pm. You will be scheduled for treatment once a day, five days a week, until you’ve completed the number of treatments prescribed.
Before entering the chamber, you’ll change into a hospital gown. Cosmetics, perfumes, hair products, deodorant, wigs, jewelry, and electronic devices aren’t allowed inside the chamber. Your HBO2 technician will need to know about any medications you’re taking, including over-the-counter drugs, and any medical devices you have; most pacemakers are allowed in the chamber.
Avoid alcohol and carbonated beverages for four hours before treatment. Smoking and tobacco use interfere with your body’s ability to transport oxygen, so your wound care team will work with you on strategies to help you stop smoking during your treatment period.
A normal treatment is 112 minutes. We do ask that you arrive 30-45 minutes prior to your treatment, dependent on whether you receive wound care or not.
Most patients find treatment comfortable. You can rest, sleep, watch television, or listen to music during the session. At certain points, you may feel fullness or a popping sensation in your ears, and we’ll coach you through techniques to clear that pressure.
Have you ever flown in an airplane? It’s like that. Airplanes are pressurized cabins just like our hyperbaric chamber. You may experience pressure changes in your ears. We will coach you through techniques to “clear” any ear pressure. Please inform us if you have a cold or sinus congestion prior to your treatment. This may inhibit your ability to “clear” your ears.
You can take reading materials in the chamber (magazines, books). Newspapers are not allowed. No electronics or battery powered devices are allowed. We do provide TV, or DVD movies, on two monitors in the chamber.
Our hyperbaric chamber, at Kettering Miamisburg, is the largest hyperbaric chamber in the state of Ohio. This chamber has capacity to hold 12 patients. We will also have medical personnel inside the chamber with you.
We will provide you with hospital scrubs to wear in the chamber. We utilize 100% oxygen in the treatment, so any undergarments must be approved by us prior to your treatment.
We will provide you with crackers, water, and juice drinks during your treatment. We do not allow outside drink containers.
Our physicians and nurses will review your medical history with you, for any possible contraindications, prior to you starting treatment. All hyperbaric treatments are supervised by our hyperbaric physicians. A hyperbaric technician and RN will meet with you prior to each treatment to check your vital signs. Hyperbaric therapy treatments can affect blood sugars in diabetic patients. We will monitor your blood sugar levels with you. Some patients may experience vision changes after multiple treatments. This is temporary and will return to normal. Please notify us, prior to arriving, if you are ill or have flu like symptoms. We can make-up treatments.
