Can You Use Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy To Treat Carbon Monoxide Poisoning?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help speed up recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning by supplying your body with pure oxygen. The treatment improves body consciousness and relieves other symptoms like nausea, headaches, and dizziness. Here is detailed information on how hyperbaric chamber therapy helps treat this problem:
Repairing Blood Cells
Carbon monoxide interferes with the functioning of red blood cells after combining with hemoglobin. This results in the formation of carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), which hinders the cells’ ability to carry oxygen. If the COHb level is greater than 25%, experts say that hyperbaric chamber treatment is justified. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy causes the vascular system to produce new blood vessels. The vessels promote a more efficient supply of nutrients and oxygenated blood to damaged blood cells. This causes the blood cells’ structures to rebuild or regenerate gradually.
Preventing Inflammations
Oxidative stress and direct intoxication of the cells from carbon monoxide exposure can increase the risks of chronic inflammation. Hyperbaric treatments help eliminate carbon monoxide toxins or block their actions. This reduces the risks of continued swelling or inflammation and other life-threatening conditions that result from oxidative stress. Hyperbaric chamber treatments also alleviate inflammation by inhibiting the production of body molecules that act as inflammatory mediators. The therapy may hinder inflammatory molecules or cells from infiltrating your body tissues and causing more damage.
Other Benefits of Hyperbaric Treatments
Oxygen deficiency due to carbon monoxide toxicity can interfere with proper collagen production or skin cell formation. This implies that hyperbaric chamber treatments may benefit your skin by increasing collagen and skin cells. Hyperbaric treatments may also quicken your wound recovery by increasing the supply of oxygen-rich plasma to the injured tissues. The therapy helps reduce the risks of brain, heart, or nerve damage in patients with acute carbon dioxide poisoning.
Tips for Choosing Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
The recommended hyperbaric chambers for treating patients exposed to carbon monoxide are monoplace and multiplace chambers. A monoplace chamber only accommodates a single person, allowing a comfortable treatment process. The chamber’s shape requires a patient to slip into it and inhale the available pressurized oxygen. Hyperbaric caregivers may use endotracheal tubes to deliver pure oxygen to patients in monoplace chambers.
A multiplace hyperbaric chamber accommodates several patients and uses transparent plastic hoods or masks to give patients pure oxygen. The large spaces of multiplace hyperbaric chambers accommodate caregivers to monitor patients throughout the therapy. Multiplace and monoplace may enable hyperbaric treatment specialists to provide personalized oxygen therapies to anyone suffering from carbon dioxide toxicity. These chambers can help stimulate your body’s natural healing process and strengthen your immune system.
How To Prepare for Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy
Scheduling a consultation with a hyperbaric treatment specialist helps you understand the medications to avoid before you start the therapy. Chemotherapy medications may interfere with the supply of pure oxygen to your body’s tissue molecules and affect the therapy’s outcomes. Some other medications also increase anxiety levels and cause the blood vessels to constrict. Your hyperbaric chamber therapy expert may require you to undergo lung imaging before starting this therapy.
Staying hydrated helps promote effective oxygen transportation to the tissues and body cells by the blood vessels. This contributes to a fast hypoxia reversal and recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning. Consuming light and healthy food reduces the risks of nausea and vomiting during hyperbaric chamber treatments. Avoid carbonated drinks and caffeine, as they can constrict blood vessels and interfere with your hyperbaric treatment outcomes.
Wearing loose clothing helps promote comfort when in a hyperbaric treatment chamber. Lotions, perfumes, and other cosmetics cause smells that increase safety risks like respiratory irritation when in a hyperbaric treatment chamber. Avoid smoking before undergoing the treatments, as tobacco adds more carbon monoxide and other toxins that counter the therapy’s results. Removing excess wax from your ears reduces the risks of painful ear pressure when in the hyperbaric therapy chamber.
Visit a Hyperbaric Medical Center Today
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilitates recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning by reversing oxygen deficiency. The therapy helps prevent more tissue inflammations and brain injury, among other impacts of acute carbon monoxide poisoning. This treatment also addresses other problems like diabetic wounds, skin grafts, and decompression sickness. Schedule a consultation today with a reputable hyperbaric medical center for the best therapy.
