How Often is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Treatment Administered?
HBOT treatment is different for every patient; there is no “set” standard for the duration, frequency, or number of HBOT treatments.
When it comes time to develop an HBOT treatment plan, every patient’s case is looked at individually. All decisions will be made jointly by your doctor and the medical director of the HBOT program.
While each set of circumstances are different, there is a way to gauge how much HBOT treatment you will need:
- Acute conditions can usually be treated with HBOT in 10 days or less.
- Chronic conditions may require several weeks, months, or years of HBOT treatment.
However, your HBOT treatment plan may change over time. Your doctor will keep a close eye on you to see how your body is responding to the treatments. Most people start to see some improvement in 5-7 days.
Some studies have shown that the body can produce 8 times as many capillaries after 10 HBOT treatment sessions. Capillaries are the tiny blood vessels that connect your arteries to your veins. The more capillaries you have, the easier it is for blood to flow through your body. The more blood that can flow around your body, the faster your body can heal and fight off new ailments.
Depending on the reaction you are having to your HBOT treatments, your doctor may choose to increase the number of treatments you get, scale back the number of treatments you get, or change the frequency of your treatments.
Regardless of what type of plan your doctors come up with, most HBOT sessions are conducted the same way. Usually, patients spend less than 2 hours in the HBOT chamber, several times per week.
Emergency cases – like severe carbon monoxide poisoning or serious diving injuries – may require longer sessions in the HBOT chamber. If the condition is serious enough, your doctor may have you spend up to 8 hours inside the HBOT chamber.
Some patients will have more than 1 HBOT treatment session per day – although most doctors suggest that you wait 3-4 hours between treatments. Many doctors believe that the best HBOT treatment plan includes having at least a session or two per day, 5 days per week.
Luckily, no matter how many HBOT treatments you receive, they will not interfere with your daily life. You do not need time to recover from your HBOT sessions. As soon as you are out of the chamber, you can immediately start going about your daily business – like going to work or going on errands.
