Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

4 Comments Posted on Autism, Diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis, Patient Talk

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Have you tried it? Does it work? Updated

Oxygen bubbles

Oxygen bubbles

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) (also called hyperbaric medicine) is the use of oxygen at higher than normally found in our atmosphere to treat medical problems.

Developed as a way of treating decompression sickness (otherwise known as “the bends”) in divers.  More recently it is also used to treat gas gangrene and carbon monoxide poisoning.

The basic principle is that the patient is placed in a chamber which provides an atmosphere high in oxygen.  Though in at least one Asian airport you can get an oxygen feed (in a bar as I recall) which claims that it can assist in overcoming your jet lagged.  I’ve tried it and I can’t say it worked.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has become fashionable in recent years as a treatment for a number of other conditions but the effectiveness is much disputed.  These include multiple sclerosis, diabetic wounds, intracranial abscesses; necrotizing fasciitis; refractory osteomyelitis; radiation injuries and skin grafts.  It has even been tried on children with autism.

As HBOT is seen as very controversial I felt it would be useful to find out more about our readers views and experiences.  It would be great if you could share the answers to the following questions in the comments box below:-

a)    Have you ever had Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

b)    What was your reason for choosing HBOT?  What condition were you hoping to treat?

c)    How successful was the HBOT?

d)    What was the process like?  Where did you receive the treatment?

e)    Would you recommend Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to others and why?

Thanks very much in advance for sharing!

1 Comment Posted on Diabetes, Patient Talk

Diabetic foot ulcers – treatment and prevention!


Diabetic foot cream

Diabetic foot cream

Welcome to our latest blog post on the subject of diabetes.  This is the first in a series of posts looking at some the complications of faced by diabetics.    You can check out our previous posts on diabetes here.

As with all our blogs we like to encourage our readers to take part in the discussion and share their stories about treatments and successes.  So please feel free to use the comments box below to add anything you think will be of interest to our readers.

The main reason to spotlight foot ulcers that are caused by diabetes is that they can, in some cases, lead to amputation of the foot.

If you or a loved one have any worries at all about a diabetic foot ulcer or indeed a wound on your feet  please see a healthcare professional as soon as possible; as it has been suggested that one in ten diabetics will go on to develop diabetic foot ulcers.  In fact both Type 1 and type 2 diabetics are susceptible to diabetic foot ulcers.

So what is a diabetic foot ulcer and why is it of particular concern to diabetics? 

Clearly foot ulcers can happen to anyone.  That being said the problem here is that the fluctuation of blood sugar levels means that they are considerably harder to heal due to diabetic neuropathy (or nerve pain).  Because neuropathy can lead to deadened pain sensations this in turn means that even very mild injuries can turn into diabetic foot ulcers.

Clearly prevention is the key issue here.  In particular regular inspections of the feet for any signs of injury.  Another suggestion is daily application of a moisturising cream.

As we mentioned above a foot ulcer can lead to amputation or debridement (which is removal of the damaged flesh).  Before that of course antibiotics are often used as well.  Interestingly hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used to reduce the risk of amputation.

As one of the aims of this post is to help our readers share their experiences of diabetic foot ulcers.  It would be great if you could use the following questions as a guide

  • What kind of diabetes do you have?  How long ago were you diagnosed?
  • Have you ever had a diabetic foot ulcer?
  • How the ulcer was treated and was it successful?
  • Have you used hyperbaric oxygen therapy what was it like?
  • What do you do now to prevent diabetic foot ulcers?

These questions are obviously only a guide so please use the comments boxes below to add any part of your story which you think will be of use to other readers.  Feel free to comment and share advice on other peoples comments.    Any links to other sites would be great as well.

38 Comments Posted on Patient Talk

Multiple Sclerosis- natural, alternative and complementary treatments for MS – Part One.


Menopause- the change of life

One of the features of this blog is to look at conventional and alternative /natural treatments for different medical conditions.  For this blog we will focus on natural treatments for multiple sclerosis.  It is interesting to note that People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) are often very receptive to non-traditional treatments.

It is worth mentioning that there are a number of treatments we won’t be covering, such as being stung by bees, because we can’t account for its veracity.  Asl this is the first of a two partpost  we won’t  cover everything so if you do have any ideas you wish us to mention in the next blog it would be great if you could mention them in the comments box below.

a)      Exercise is of course a biggie.  The key issue is “low impact” exercise so Yoga, Tai Chi and swimming all come highly recommended.  We covered yoga for PwMS in a previous blog which you may find of interest https://patienttalk.org/?p=571.

b)      Acupuncture.  This ancient Chinese system of medicine has been found by some people with multiple sclerosis to help with bladder control and spasticity.  Some useful information and very relevant links can be found at the National Multiple Sclerosis Societies’ web site http://www.nationalmssociety.org/about-multiple-sclerosis/what-we-know-about-ms/treatments/complementary–alternative-medicine/acupuncture/index.aspx

c)       Massage.  While not in and of itself a disease modifier it certain helps with stress and depression which are side effects of multiple sclerosis.

d)      Evening primrose oil.  Some studies have suggested that it may help with some of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

e)      Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO).  Simply put this means that the patient breaths pure oxygen.  Some studies have suggested there are signs of improvement while many say it has no effect.

The more eagled eyed among our readers will note that we have not covered a diet at all in this post.  This is because we plan to review various diets in a set of future blogs.

The next stage is really over to you.  It would be great if you have tried any of these therapies we could have your feedback on how they worked.  You may wish to think in terms of some of the following questions:-

1)      How long have you had multiple sclerosis and what were/are your main symptoms?

2)      What treatments have you tried?  In particular which complementary treatments have you used?

3)      How effective were those non-traditional treatments?

4)      Would you recommend any treatments to others to help with the symptoms of multiple sclerosis?

 

Please use the comments box below to add your thoughts and suggestions.

Many thanks in advance.