Treating the
Injury to the Brain
Traumatic brain injury is the most commonly experienced injury among service members and veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, including our Special Operations Forces who are committing suicide at an alarming rate. The Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center reported that from 2000 - 2023, over 492,000 veterans and active duty service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) whether it be from an accident, explosion (blast injury), repeated exposure to gunfire, or a fall. First responders also experience a very high incidence of TBI on the job. The risk of suicide increases with just one mild traumatic brain injury, and worsens with each successive TBI.
History of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has a centuries-long history of safely and effectively treating many injuries and diseases. It entails breathing 100% oxygen at a pressure greater than the ambient pressure.
HBOT was first used in 1662 by a British doctor who created an airtight chamber where the atmosphere could be adjusted using a bellow and valves - this was before we discovered oxygen.
In the 1800’s, hyperbaric chambers became popular in Europe. Paul Bert, a French engineer and doctor, wrote about the physiological effects of air under increased and decreased pressure around 1872.
The first hyperbaric chamber was built in New York in 1891 by Dr. J. Leonard Corning. In 1928, Dr. Orval Cunningham opened the largest hyperbaric chamber in the world in Cleveland, OH.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy gained real recognition in the United States during the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Workers diving deep beneath the river to lay the foundation for the bridge were traveling back to the surface and getting what we now call, “the bends.” Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was introduced to help eliminate the bubbles in their blood and tissue that occurred when divers came up to the surface too quickly.
HBOT is safe and effective, and is used more than 10,000 times per day in the US alone.
How does Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy heal mTBI?
When the brain is injured, the tissue in the brain gets damaged. The cells in the damaged tissue become deprived of the oxygen they need to function properly. In addition to the chemical changes that occur with brain injury, the pathways dependent upon those functioning cells become blocked. This causes the symptoms we see in mTBI, including loss of memory, anxiety, loss of executive functioning, headaches, depression, and inability to concentrate.
During an HBOT session, oxygen is delivered to hypoxic tissues in the body that are not regularly receiving the amount of oxygen they need to thrive.
At pressure, oxygen is able to travel through the red blood cells and into blood plasma, reaching cells that are typically blocked from blood flow and oxygen due to illness, injury or disease.
HBOT enables angiogenesis and neurovascularization - the creation of new blood vessels. These new blood vessels carry the oxygen to the injured tissue in the body and help the cells to heal at the mitochondrial level.
As an added benefit, this state of hyperoxia helps to kill pathogens and decrease inflammation, which research shows lies at the root of many chronic illness.
During a sequence of HBOT treatments, as the brain receives the oxygen it needs to heal and regain proper cellular and vascular functioning, our clients notice that their mTBI symptoms continue to lessen throughout the course of treatment and afterwards.
