What is an average cost of hyperbaric chamber session?

Introduction of hyperbaric chamber

We continue to receive numerous inquiries about the effectiveness of Hyperbaric chamber in treating chronic pain. You also ask us for information about what an oxygen chambers is, how it works, contraindications … You have even asked us to recommend a hyperbaric center in Spain.

With this article we will try to shed light on your doubts and why we continue to be very cautious when recommending it.

What is Hyperbaric chamber medicine?

It is a medical discipline that studies the body’s responses to pressures higher than atmospheric (normal, street pressure), particularly focusing on treatments that aim to increase the amount of oxygen in the patient’s blood using a special chamber: the oxygen chambers.

What is and how does a hyperbaric chamber work?

An oxygen chambers is a device in which air pressure artificially increases.

In the special conditions of hyper pressure that come in a Hyperbaric chamber, the patient’s lungs “breathe” more oxygen than in normal conditions and the supply of oxygen to the cells is greater: oxygen circulates freely through the bloodstream without the need for hemoglobin.

Oxygen chambers have very different sizes. They can be individual or collective and it pressurizes with pure oxygen or only with compressed air. In this type of chamber, patients breathe pure oxygen with a mask.

You can even find low or medium pressure chambers for private use.

What are the risks of hyperbaric chambers?

In controlled situations – approved cameras that comply with all applicable regulations – and under the supervision of qualified healthcare personnel, the risks are low and the appearance of unwanted side effects is infrequent. Staying indoors can cause anxiety in the patient and overpressure could cause pain in the ears, joints, or frontal or maxillary sinuses.

Rarely, pure oxygen could trigger an irritating cough.

On the other hand, there is a risk of fire due to oxygen saturation in Hyperbaric chamber pressurized with pure oxygen. They will not allow you to access them with lighters, matches, electronic devices, mobile phone, tablets or headphones.

Oxygen chambers treatment conditions

You should not access a oxygen chambers if you have a fever, sinusitis, a pneumothorax or a history of spontaneous pneumothorax, if you have a diagnosed spherocytic anemia, or if you are pregnant. Nor should you access if you suffer from uncontrolled epilepsy or perforation in the eardrum.

Even drug treatments with cisplatin, bleomycin, or doxorubicin are incompatible with the use of oxygen chambers.

Consult your specialist doctor.

There is a lot of misinformation on the internet about the clinical effectiveness of hyperbaric chambers.  Studies are still being done but they are still not conclusive about its usefulness in the treatment of pain.

Regardless of the promises you can read on the web. Moreover, the truth is that Hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy has only proven its effectiveness. Also, the treatment of decompression syndromes (diver’s disease), arterial gas embolism, carbon monoxide poisoning or treatment of some resistant infections in soft tissue, bone (resistant osteomyelitis), sinus or brain.

Oxygen chambers for example-,

chronic ischemic injuries (ulcerations and wounds in patients with diabetic complications or very poor circulation), post-surgical vascular reperfusion treatments, sudden deafness, retinal ischemia or burns of more 20% or second grade.

• You have more information on the page of the Spanish Society of Hyperbaric Medicine
• For which treatments hyperbaric therapy is not good?
• The oxygen chambers is not a universal remedy for chronic diseases

Use of Oxygen chambers

As we have mentioned, on the internet you will find statements of little evidence. There is no scientific endorsement about the benefits of hyperbaric medicine.

The use of the Hyperbaric chamber has not proven its clinical effectiveness in the treatment of cancer, autism, cerebral palsy, diabetes, asthma, depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, heart disease, hepatitis, Bell’s palsy, spinal cord injuries or AIDS.

How long do hyperbaric chamber treatments last?

The duration of oxygen chambers treatments is highly variable. It is established according to the needs of the patients and the type of facilities in which the sessions are carried out. These can last up to 90 minutes.

How much do oxygen chambers treatments cost?

The price in clinics and private businesses that offer treatments in a oxygen chambers is very uneven and ranges between 40 and 120 euros.

Oxygen chambers with pure oxygen

The Hyperbaric chamber is a container or a pressurized chamber with a pressure greater than atmospheric. The chamber delivers pure oxygen, causing the patient who introduces to the oxygen chambers to breathe three times.

They are easy to classify into single-seater and multi-seater. Single-seater cameras are common for one person, multiplace cameras are the most common because they are for a group of people. Whatever the type of chamber, it is completely stuck down to prevent oxygen from escaping.

What is oxygen chambers therapy?

Oxygen chambers therapy -or hyperbaric oxygenation- is an alternative treatment where the patient’s body subjects to a pressure higher than normal in a closed container.

In the Oxygen chambers, the patient breathes only 100% pure oxygen continuously, under pressure.

This treatment is safe and painless. There are almost no side effects, aftercare is minimal, and recovery is almost immediate compare to other alternative therapies.

Patient during an oxygen therapy session

What is the hyperbaric oxygenation treatment based on?

This procedure is built on Henry’s Law, a gaseous physical law where it argues that the solubility of gas in a liquid is equal to the pressure of the same gas on the liquid. That is, the oxygen pressure in our body is proportional to ours, but creating positive side effects in our body.

It is also base on artificial environmental conditions, where, through a pressurized chamber, only oxygen breathes.

Conclusion

Sessions generally last between one and two hours. The duration of the session can vary because there is a previous series where the pressure of the Hyperbaric chamber rises and falls.

The number of sessions will depend on the disease or condition of the patient. Although there is no specific number of sessions, there is an average of ten sessions per condition.