A Tip For Parents of Athletes

There has been much controversy lately about sports and injuries, particularly concussion, which can actually have long term affects that most parents aren’t aware of. But there is something that you – as parents of athletes – can do.

As concussions in sports become an increasingly prevalent issue, it is important for parents to know how they can help their child recover from concussions, regardless of its severity. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is one of the lowest-risk treatments available, and a good way to be proactive about helping a child suffering from post-concussion syndrome return to the classroom and playing field.

In a study by Dr. Paul Harch, one of the leading doctors in hyperbaric medicine, fifteen military personnel (all previously diagnosed with traumatic brain injury) were treated with forty hyperbaric oxygen treatments. Each patient made significant improvements in injury symptoms, physical exam results, cognitive measurements, and most importantly, quality of life ratings.

No physical injury can heal without oxygen, and the same applies for the brain. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy allows a patient to breathe 100% oxygen (as opposed to air from the atmosphere, which is 21% oxygen and 79% nitrogen) in a pressurized chamber, which creates a higher concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream, which can improve circulation to impaired brain areas.

An article from the Division of Neurosurgery at Linda Loma University Medical Center acknowledges that many brain injuries result in reduced blood supply to affected tissues, which can impair brain function. Increasing the concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream can help repair damaged tissue, and reduce swelling and inflammation.

Typically, the standard approach for treating sports concussions involves a great deal of waiting. Concussed individuals are told to get cognitive rest and not over-stimulate the brain by using the phone and computer. After a concussion, athletes frequently complain of headaches and insomnia, and often privately struggle with anxiety, depression, and poor academic performance due to impaired brain function. Standard treatments may also involve medication, which can produce undesirable side effects.

Thankfully, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is highly effective and has minimal side effects. By comparing the risks of treating versus not treating your child for a concussion, it becomes clear that being proactive is essential. While concussion symptoms may improve through simply resting, they could also worsen. As you think about your athlete’s post-concussion treatment, ask yourself: are you and your child willing to deal with persistent effects of head injury?

While the short term symptoms of concussions such as dizziness and headaches may not seem serious, long term problems such as dementia-like symptoms and advanced aging of brain tissue are not to be taken lightly. Brain injuries that go untreated have also been linked to learning disabilities, social and relationship issues, low self-esteem, depression, and alcoholism. What we see as headaches now could present themselves as problems that are serious and difficult to treat in the future.

Although no healthcare facility can promise a cure for concussion symptoms, hyperbarics can provide help to many people, from athletes with minor head injuries to soldiers involved in IED explosions. Our hope is that in the future, hyperbaric oxygen therapy will come to be seen as a low-risk, effective procedure that can help improve many symptoms of head trauma.

Stop in and see us at Empower Wellness Center to find out how we can help your athlete.

Just how…exactly…does HBOT work?

I get this question often. Sometimes it’s hard to explain, but here is an answer that I believe that everyone can understand.

The moderately increased pressure will dramatically increase the amount of oxygen that will be safely delivered to all tissues in the body, even to places that have naturally restricted blood flow (i.e. the body’s white tissues), lower than normal flow or even blockages.

The air that we breathe usually provides enough oxygen for both normal body metabolism and the repair of tissue damage after injury or illness. However, tissue damage or disease also involves the blood vessels within the tissue and this may reduce blood flow. So, just when more oxygen is needed, the supply is reduced and recovery may be limited or even prevented.

By increasing the concentration of oxygen in the blood, more of it can be delivered to damaged tissue to establish normal oxygen values and so allow recovery to take place. Oxygen diffuses under pressure because of the laws of physics in plasma, which supplies all body tissues with oxygen.

In a myriad of documented cases HBOT has produced remarkable and miraculous benefits for a wide variety of serious medical conditions. HBOT has been clinically proven to produce a more efficient immune system, a more rapid regeneration of cells, and is proven to work as a potent anti-aging therapy. Simply stated, significantly increasing the delivery of oxygen to all tissues throughout one’s body results in improved health and vitality. Breathing pressurized oxygen allows every fluid in your body to better absorb the life giving gas.

Once these fluids are “supercharged” with oxygen, there is an increased oxygen supply to all of your body systems and organs. You’ll witness peak wellness, peak energy and peak mental acuity. Healing from virtually every illness and even post-surgery will occur faster and more extensively. You will discover amazing, restful rejuvenating sleep. With continued treatments over a period of time you’ll experience the anti-aging benefits provided by HBOT.

So You’re interested in HyperBarics…Now What

Hyperbaric oxygen is used to treat all conditions which benefit from increased tissue oxygen availability, as well as infections where it can be used for its antibiotic properties, either as the primary therapy, or in conjunction with other drugs. It can also be used cosmetically for anti-aging, acne, and other conditions. HBOT can be used to treat whatever ails you.

Insurance and Medicare consider  the following conditions for HBOT to be covered for payment:

Air or Gas Embolism
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Compartment Syndrome/Crush Injury/Other Traumatic Ischemias
Decompression Sickness (Bends)
Diabetic and Selected Wounds
Exceptional Blood Loss (Anemia)
Gas Gangrene
Intracranial Abscess
Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infection
Osteoradionecrosis and Radiation Tissue Damage
Osteomyelitis (Refractory)
Skin Grafts and (Compromised) Flaps
Thermal Burns

The following conditions are off-label which may or may not be covered by insurance or Medicare:

Autism
Cerebral Palsy
Lyme Disease
Migraine
Multiple Sclerosis
Near Drowning
Recovery from Plastic Surgery
Sports Injuries
Stroke
Traumatic Brain Injury

At Empower Wellness Center, we will go above and beyond to be certain that you get the treatment you need.  YOU are why we have done this.  This service is for you and your loved ones.  If you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us.

What is HBOT?

Consider this analogy:

A bottle of soda-pop is a pressurized vessel. In the bottle there is liquid. There is also ‘carbonation’ (the gas) and pressure. When the bottle is sealed, bubbles are not seen. The moment the cap is twisted and the seal is broken, there is a ‘swish’ and the pressure is released from the bottle. Now, all of a sudden there is a formation of bubbles in the bottle, and as time goes, they grow and float to the top of the liquid. Certainly the pressure in the bottle is quite high and the nature of the gas (carbonation) is a different than the 21% oxygen in the ambient air. However the concept is the same. In the hyperbaric chamber, as the pressure goes up, more oxygen from the air is ‘pushed’ into the fluids of the body.

The healing process occurs when a severely compromised tissue in the body begins to receive oxygen, and blood circulation to the tissue resumes. Note: The damaged tissue may not have been receiving enough blood for it to heal, due to a lack of blood circulation caused by the initial trauma.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric Therapy, also known as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, HBO or HBOT, is a specialized therapy that uses an increase in atmospheric pressure to allow the body to incorporate more oxygen into blood cells, blood plasma, cerebral-spinal fluid, and other body fluids.

At sea level the atmospheric pressure is 1ATA (14.7 psi or pounds per square inch), which allows the lungs to absorb a normal amount of oxygen from the air. At higher altitudes, the pressure drops and the lungs are not able to absorb as much oxygen from the air. This is why oxygen masks drop in an airplane at high altitudes – to increase the oxygen content due to the lack of pressure. The exact opposite happens at lower altitudes (below sea level). There, the pressure is greater (above 1ATA) and now the lungs can more easily absorb the oxygen, and at a greater volume.  What this means for you is you can treat almost any condition from cancer to post-traumatic-stress disorder to diabetes with nature’s cure. Oxygen.