Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments and Wound Care

Non-healing wounds are serious business. And for some patients with diabetes, these ulcers are easy to get. Why? Because when patients have no sensation in their extremities, they become more prone to injury, infection and tissue damage. For instance, imagine what a simple pebble in your shoe could do if you couldn’t feel it prodding your sole as you walked around for a day. That small wound would easily grow and get infected as the pebble continued to work its way in to the foot. Ouch!

Those with open wounds are at increased risk for infection and have a harder time fighting it off. Here’s why: When diabetes damages blood vessels, they can no longer effectively pump oxygen with its vital nutrients to the body’s tissues. Additionally, if the patient suffers from peripheral artery disease, the blood supply to their legs and feet gets cut off, leading to diseased tissue that won’t heal properly. In about a quarter of all cases, a lesion that won’t heal leads to limb amputation.

How HBOT Heals Stubborn Wounds:

During HBOT therapy, patients sit or lie in a comfortable chamber and breathe in high concentrations of pure oxygen at higher than normal air pressures. This super-charged 02 level is highly effective for treating stubborn, non-healing wounds. Here’s how it works…

HBOT literally drives pure oxygen deep into tissues. It also stimulates new blood vessel growth, which increases the flow of vital nutrients to impacted areas, allowing healing to occur naturally. If diabetes has led to tissue damage or non-healing ulcers, Medicare and other insurers will cover Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

It’s so important for diabetic patients to maintain good foot health. Thoroughly inspect feet and toes daily, and ask others to clip your toenails for you if you’re not able to do it yourself. Increases in foot temperature can be an early warning sign of an ulcer. Purchase an infrared thermometer to measure foot temperatures quickly and easily. If you have more than a four-degree temperature difference between your two feet, it’s time to contact your doctor!

If you’d like to learn more about HBOT’s ability to heal stubborn wounds, please call our office at 727-787-7077. Dr. Spiegel would like to provide a personalized assessment to determine if you could benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Our office staff will confirm your appointment soon. For many non-healing wounds HBOT is covered by Medicare and other insurances. Otherwise, we can review payment options that help make the treatment affordable.