For detailed information, including research about a specific medical condition and customer results, tap on the condition below.
The increased pressure helps oxygen molecules dissolve directly into the plasma, where it is carried easily throughout your body. This allows the oxygen to penetrate your brain, organs, and muscle tissues, as well as your bones.This results in many health benefits including healing diseased or damaged areas and increasing recovery of new and old injury sites.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treats medical conditions with 100% oxygen in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber. The patient lies or sits in the chamber. The oxygen then saturates the plasma in the blood, allowing oxygen to easily flow throughout the body and reach even areas that are injured or diseased, which typically receive less oxygen. The mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen therapy include stimulating and mobilizing stem cells, down-regulating inflammatory genes, up-regulating reproductive cells and stimulating DNA. HBOT also regrows tiny blood vessels, and stimulates the growth of new healthy cells in the brain, bones, skin, organs, and tissues. People seek hyperbaric oxygen therapy to heal physical damage in their bodies and to promoting health and anti-aging.
Each condition generally requires it's own unique treatment schedule for maximum healing. If your disease or injury requires multiple treatments, most studies show optimal results based on five daily treatments per week. Therapy schedules and protocols are decided by a healthcare provider or our Medical Director.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a painless, noninvasive therapy. Our patients often tell us they don't notice the pressure change, except for a bit in their ears. Specifically, some feel a bit of pressure in their ears, like when they take off in an airplane. It feels like their ears are “popping." After a treatment, some patients say they can think more clearly and that they have more energy. If there has been pain from swelling or impinged nerves, patients often comment on the pain relief, plus increased strength and range of motion after their treatments.
Overall, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is extremely safe. However, as with any medical therapy, there can be risks. Any risks should be reviewed with you prior to your treatment, at the time your provider goes over your health history with you, and during your intake at the clinic. All clinics are constructed with approval of the local fire marshal and building inspectors to ensure that they comply with all relevant safety codes. Bay Area Hyperbarics has an outstanding safety record for our 21 years serving our community.
We make preparing for a hyperbaric oxygen therapy easy. Before the first treatment, we take the time to answer all of your questions in detail. The patient’s healthcare provider reviews their history and condition. For example, depending on your condition, you may be asked to eat before your treatment. Preparing for HBOT is just as individualized as the therapy. In most cases, it’s as easy as changing into the clothing we provide you. Call us with any questions you have. We are more than happy to answer all of your questions, even if you are not a current patient.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been proven to help with numerous medical conditions. Each insurance company decides what’s covered and what's not. That said, HBOT is covered by Medicare, Kaiser, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, United Health Care and many other insurances. Coverage is based on the diagnosis. We also take people with conditions that are not covered by their insurance, but whose problem can greatly improve with HBOT. Call us! We are more than happy to look at your personal situation and do the insurance work for you.
Hyperbarics, also called hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT, is a medical therapy approved by the FDA and Medicare for healing a variety of medical conditions. A patient sits or lays down in a hard-sided, pressurized chamber, and breaths 100% oxygen, which heals the body and brain.
It is safe, effective and painless.
Hyperbaric means high pressure, and most often refers to a medical treatment. In hyperbaric medicine, patients sit or lie down in a pressurized, full-body hyperbaric chamber, where they breathe 100% Oxygen. This oxygen under pressure allows oxygen to dissolve directly into the body’s plasma, saturating it with 400x more oxygen than normal. Medicare and other insurance companies cover a number of conditions, such as radiation damage to the skin, bladder, jaw, and breast, and non-healing wounds such as diabetic or failing grafts or flaps. Insurance also covers treatment of bone infections, and many other conditions.
Hyperbaric medicine, also called hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT, is a medical treatment where a patient sits or lies in pressurized chamber and breathes 100% oxygen. In HBOT, oxygen dissolves into the blood, thus raising the oxygen concentration to very high levels.This increased oxygen is a primary building block for tissues, muscle, and bone repair. Among other benefits, it kicks off cell reproduction, heals injuries and infection more rapidly, and decreases inflammation.
Undersea and hyperbaric medicine includes both medicine that addresses diving and undersea medical issues, as well as medical treatments in hyperbaric oxygen chambers.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment that is used to treat a wide variety of medical conditions. These include, but are not limited to problem wounds, infections, and radiation damage to tissue, muscle, nerves and bones. HBOT is also used to heal sudden deafness, sudden blindness, burns, failing flaps and grafts, abscesses in the brain and carbon monoxide poisoning, in addition to numerous other conditions.
A hyperbaric treatment is a session of hyperbaric therapy where a patient is in a full body hyperbaric chamber, where they receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy. During this treatment, the chamber is slowly pressurized and the patient breaths pure oxygen. This treatment cures a large number of illnesses and infections, and many treatments are covered by Medicare and insurance. To find out if your condition is covered, give us a call.
The benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy can last a lifetime. For example, patients who suffer from radiation injuries have their injuries healed with HBOT, and they almost never return.
Hyperbaric medicine stimulates increased cell reproduction that can continue for up to two months after a series of multiple successive hyperbaric sessions.
There are many other effects that occur for variable periods of time and depend upon many conditions, including the patient’s health status, the severity of the problem and the patient's age and sex. For example, a 78-year-old with diabetic wounds who would otherwise require amputation of their toes would most likely find their wounds healed. However, because the diabetes itself does not go away, this patient may need additional sessions several months later.
For these reasons, patients are followed by their health professionals during their treatments.
Hyperbaric treatment affects many parts of the body, disease processes and physiology. It boosts your immune system and supercharges your body's healing process. It stimulates stem cell reproduction, gene expression and red blood cell growth, heals certain brain injuries and radiation damage throughout the body, kills infections, and heals your skin, bones, muscle and organ tissues. If you have questions about whether hyperbaric treatment can help with your condition or that of a family member, give us a call. We would love to talk it through with you.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works by increasing pressure in a hyperbaric chamber, along with 100% oxygen. Oxygen molecules under pressure compress smaller than the liquid in the body, which enables them to dissolve directly into the plasma, where it can be carried throughout the body. This allows the oxygen to penetrate membranes and reach injured areas of the body that are malfunctioning due to lack of oxygen. Thus, your brain, bones, organs, and muscle tissues become highly saturated with oxygen, resulting in numerous health benefits, including healing diseased or damaged areas and increasing recovery of new and old injury sites.
A hyperbaric chamber is a device that is approved by the FDA, PVHO and ASME for treating patients. It is a full body chamber made of metal or thick, clear plastic, in which a patient sits or lies for a hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment. Only treatment in approved chambers is reimbursable by Medicare and other insurers. Most chambers hold one person at a time only, though there larger chambers that can accommodate multiple patients at one time do exist. A certified hyperbaric technician then increases pressure in the chamber to a prescribed amount, and the patient breaths 100% pure medical oxygen. The type of condition being treated determines the amount of pressure and treatment time a patient receives. At the end of a session, the chamber is depressurized to normal room pressure, after which the patient exits and goes about their day as they normally would.
A hyperbaric chamber works by increasing the atmospheric pressure sufficiently to cause more oxygen than normal to dissolve into the plasma with each breath. The oxygen is then carried throughout the body to injured areas, even areas that otherwise have limited or no blood supply. Normally, oxygen is carried by the red blood cells throughout the body. In a hyperbaric chamber, the oxygen molecules in essence get smaller and can travel to locations the larger red blood cells can not reach. The oxygen, once in an injured or diseased or aged area, becomes the building block for repairing tissues, bones, and for enabling cellular reproduction and mobilization. Hyperbaric chambers also greatly reduce swelling and inflammation, as well as kill unwanted bacteria, and stimulate multiple other physiological pathways to increased health.
Hyperbaric chambers are made and approved by the FDA, PVHO and ASME for your safety. There have been fatalities during the use of homemade hyperbaric chambers. Given that caveat, a very mild hyperbaric environment can be created in your home by sealing the doors and windows from air escaping and then putting a fan that blows air from the outside into the room. This will raise the atmospheric pressure slightly, though not be enough to heal.
A hyperbaric chamber is used to treat medical conditions, such as radiation damage, concussion, stroke, sudden hearing loss, diabetic wounds, to name just a few. A hyperbaric chamber is a long tube in which a patient lies down or sits, which can be pressurized by adding medical air or oxygen. A hyperbaric technician then supplies the patient with 100% oxygen. Hyperbarics super-charges healing.
You can start your search for HBOT with an internet search for hyperbaric oxygen therapy near you. Some clinics are in hospitals, and do not always pop up in internet searches. Hospital clinics only treat conditions that are covered by insurance. Private clinics like ours take insurance as well as private payment, because we find HBOT helps heal a variety of problems. Make sure the clinic has both a medical director and that their technicians are certified hyperbaric technicians. Lastly, do they use 100% oxygen in their hard sided chambers? Soft chambers are not approved for reimbursement by the FDA, because they can not be used with 100% oxygen and can not be pressurized sufficiently for treating many conditions. Soft chamber use a maximum of 31% oxygen, whereas our hard-sided chambers use 100% oxygen, which is completely safe.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is done in a clinic with hyperbaric chambers. A patient sits or lies inside the chamber for between one and two hours and breathes 100% oxygen. The hyperbaric chamber creates a unique environment wherein we can increase pressure, while delivering pure oxygen. This combination reduces the size of the oxygen molecules, allowing more oxygen to be absorbed into the body. The additional oxygen is the foundation of healing across many bodily systems, including areas where injury has occurred from such events as radiation damage, concussion, diabetes and other illnesses and injuries.
Most patients feel better after their hyperbaric treatment in a number of ways. For example, athletes who come in for rapid injury recovery, they can feel significant pain relief after just one treatment. The pressure with the oxygen reduces swelling, forcing more oxygen and nutrients into the injured or diseased areas. This can relieve pain and improve range of motion. Thus, movement and intensive activity are easier. At the same time, we also warn athletes that they may feel so pain-free that they may want to go immediately back to their full training schedule. We try to encourage them to give their tissues more time to fully heal before resuming their heavy training schedule.
In other cases, a patient can feel worse for a short time after treatment, as their body is detoxifying. The oxygen that floods a patient’s system can stimulate cells to detoxify rapidly or re-invigorate cells that were idling or not functioning fully. In some cases, the treatment can cause such a rapid detoxification effect that it can cause stress and what is called a herxheimer reaction. This may occur when there is an active infection. This may lead to mild flu like symptoms. However, hyperbaric treatment helps these infections heal more rapidly, and so after the requisite number of treatments, patients feel significantly better and at times, they tell us that they have not felt so pain free and able to function again for years or even decades.
When in operation, the pressure in a hyperbaric chamber is greater than the pressure in the surrounding room air. This is most often measured in pounds per square inch (PSI) or absolute atmospheres ATA, such as 14.7 PSI or 1 ATA. The pressure enters the chamber as cleaned and "scrubbed" air from a 100% medical oxygen tank, which is piped into the closed chamber.
The typical pressure in a hyperbaric chamber for healing ranges from 1.5 ATA to 2.0 ATA, though some conditions require 2.4 ATA.
There has been a rise in the number of soft-sided hyperbaric chambers in recent years, but soft-sided chambers typically only accommodate up to 1.3 ATA and provide only 31% oxygen. Hard chambers provide greater pressure, and higher levels of oxygen, both of which have been proven safe and effective.
A hyperbaric chamber is used to heal a variety of injuries and diseases. It can be a monoplace chamber, meaning that it is built to be used by one person at a time, or it can be a multiplace chamber, which can treat 2 to 30+ people during a single session.
Treatment in a hyperbaric chamber heals bones, tissues, nerves, the brain, skin, and organs throughout the body. It is most often used to treat stubborn infections and slow-healing wounds, injuries, bones that won't heal, radiation damage from cancer treatments and burns. it speeds up healing from surgery, prevents some scar tissue from forming, reduces pain, helps reverse sudden hearing loss and sudden blindness, and stimulates the down-regulation of inflammatory genes. Studies show that it rehabilitates damage from stroke and autoimmune diseases, reduces skin damage from sun exposure, reduces nitrogen damage during decompression sickness and speeds healing from athletic injuries and other accidents and injuries. It also reduces pain and damage from swelling in the brain and throughout the body.
The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, UHMS, primarily educates, evaluates research and publishes studies and their results. This group focuses on two areas of hyperbaric medicine:
The annual conference for the UHMS usually includes both. Their membership covers the globe, with a heavy proportion of members being American. The UHMS structure includes chapters which often have annual meetings in the US as well as abroad. The UHMS reviews and evaluates research, and sometimes lobbies the United States federal government to approve certain conditions for reimbursement.
Periodically the UHMS publishes an extensive review of conditions approved for by the US Federal Government. There is controversy over their reach, because many think that they exclude important research and medical treatments that could potentially help many people. There are a couple of other organizations that compete with the UHMS.
A hyperbaric chamber can greatly benefit athletes. The healing properties of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) rapidly decrease recovery time from injuries. HBOT reduces swelling and pain for athletes, putting them back into action much more rapidly than the body can heal itself normally. Often, athletes use hyperbaric chambers post surgically for rapid recovery, with less time for the formation of damaging scar tissue.
Additionally, hyperbaric chambers will regrow the proportion of blood vessels and nerves that typically do not grow back after surgery, thus giving the athlete a greater functional capacity than she or he would get healing on their own.
Hyperbaric treatments help heal neuropathy by regrowing small blood vessels and nerves that have died from disease, injuries from radiation and aging. Patients often experience numbness and or pain when they start treatment. Hyperbaric treatments most often bring back sensation and make, for example, walking easier and more enjoyable.
Michael Jackson did use a hyperbaric chamber to heal a burn he got while making a Pepsi commercial. Burns are an approved condition for treatment in a hyperbaric chamber for reimbursement by Medicare. Hyperbaric chambers are often used to heal burns quicker and with less scaring, sometimes saving the life of someone with significant burns across their body. Sometimes hyperbarics reduces or entirely removes pain from burns.
Whether Michael took a nap while he was in his chamber is not unlikely, but no one has made known his sleeping habits while he had the burn and used the hyperbaric chamber. Our patients often take naps while in the chamber. Michael Jackson did donate his hyperbaric chamber to a children's hospital after he was done.
Current research indicates that hyperbaric oxygen does not kill cancer cells. However, there has been a small amount of research indicating that hyperbaric oxygen might reduce the size of certain tumors. Also, there has been a study on mice using hyperbaric oxygen, along with a ketogenic diet, to reduce tumors. Hyperbaric oxygen causes many different healing modalities to kick into gear. Could its effect on strengthening the immune system inhibit the growth of cancer cells? Nobody knows. There are numerous studies conclusively showing that hyperbaric oxygen does not encourage cancer cells or tumors to grow. Some patients claim the hyperbaric oxygen makes them feel a lot more comfortable and functional after chemotherapy and also during healing. Note that some chemotherapy drugs are not to be used with hyperbaric oxygen, as the chemotherapy drugs can be enhanced and thus become toxic. A good hyperbaric oxygen facility (such as Bay Area Hyperbarics) will always call the chemotherapy manufacturer to ensure that hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be helpful and not damaging to the patient.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is more effective for some conditions than others. For some conditions, it has proven close to 100% effective. For others, it has proven closer to 75% effective.
We have seen hundreds of patients who were not responding to traditional medicines and therapies. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has given our patient their lives back and dramatic increased their quality of living. Our team is proud to say we have changed the lives of over 2,500 people in the bay area.
We welcome your questions, and are happy to describe typical patient outcomes for your condition. Our goal is your success, so let’s work on dramatically improving your quality of living together.
Patients with have come to us with dozens of questions in success.
A hyperbaric chamber is used to heal a variety of medical conditions. In essence, you lie down in a chamber, which is pressurized, and you are given 100% oxygen to breath. This oxygen under pressure permeates your body, which stimulates your body to heal. It also stimulates stem cells and grows healthy cells in your blood vessels, brain, bones and skin. It is often used for diabetic foot wounds and other non-healing wounds, as it helps tissues that typically do not get oxygen to receive large supplies of this healing nutrient, so they can heal.
How long the healing properties of hyperbaric oxygen therapy last depends on the diagnosis. If a patient has a non-healing wound, hyperbarics will almost always help heal the wound. However, if the patient stops treatment before the wound has healed completely, they run the risk of the wound not healing on its own. Likewise, if a patient continues treatment until the wound has fully healed, the tissue does not become immune to future infections or injuries.
In some cases, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to treat discomfort from other medical treatments, such as chemotherapy, to reduce the side effects they would otherwise experience. In such cases, if a patient suddenly ceases their regular hyperbaric protocol, their symptoms will very likely come back within 3 to7 days. Thus, it is important to complete the hyperbaric protocol, to ensure complete healing.
A hyperbaric Chamber is used with pure oxygen to treat patients for a wide range of conditions, from radiation damage to concussion and TBI, to sudden deafness and sports injuries. For a list of conditions we treat, see the earlier section "What are the most common conditions we treat?"
A physician would consider using hyperbaric chamber therapy under a variety of situations. Physicians most typically refer patients to hyperbarics when the patient is not healing with traditional medical interventions and hyperbaric chamber therapy is approved by Medicare for this condition.
Some patients experience significant unresolved pain and unremitting disease states that the mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber are known to affect, such as the down regulation of inflamatory genes. For an example, some patients have experienced severe, unremitting hives with itching, which did not improve with any specialists interventions.
Some physicians will consider hyperbaric chamber therapy if the patient has no other good avenues for improving their failing health, and they know the hyperbaric chamber therapy is safe and will not harm the patient.
The cost of a hyperbaric chamber depends on several factors, with the most significant being whether you purchase a soft-sided chamber or a hard-sided chamber. More and more soft-sided chambers have entered the market over recent years, but research has shown medically significant results only with hard-sided chambers. In general, soft-sided chambers only pressurize up to 1.3 ATA, whereas hard-sided chambers pressurize up to 2.4 ATA (and higher). Also, soft-sided chambers only supply up to 31% oxygen, whereas hard-sided chambers supply 100% oxygen.
Soft-sided chambers are much less expensive and require oxygen concentrators, which pull oxygen from the surrounding air to provide a greater concentration. In contrast, hard chambers require air compressors, oxygen storage containers, and medical-grade air and oxygen.
Before are purchase a hyperbaric chamber, call us to discuss the optimal chamber, because each treatment protocol requires specific pressures and oxygen concentrations, and we are here to help you heal.
You can buy a hyperbaric chamber, but to get the best results, we recommend you use a hard-sided chamber, which can be pressurized up to 2.4x your normal atmospheric pressure, and can provide you with 100% oxygen. However, hard chambers often cost well over $100,000.
You can use or purchase a soft-sided chamber, but soft-sided chambers cannot be pressurized sufficiently to heal most medical conditions, and you can only receive 30% oxygen. However, they are significantly lower cost. Doctors who refer patients to Bay Area Hyperbarics recommend hard chambers, so you can receive the full healing power of hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery.
It is simple, effective and painless.
The CPT code for HBOT is G0277.
As of December, 2019, we have heard of no cases of insurance covering the purchase of a hyperbaric chamber. However, Medicare and many forms of insurance pay for you to receive hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a certified hyperbaric clinic, such as Bay Area Hyperbarics. To learn which conditions hyperbarics treats, refer to Conditions covered by insurance.
Medicare will cover the cost your hyperbaric treatments at Bay Area Hyperbarics, if the treatments are for an approved condition. See Conditions covered by insurance.
Medicare pays for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatment if you have a covered condition. Refer to our list of Insurance-approved conditions.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is covered by insurance for specific conditions. Bay Area Hyperbarics offers treatment to patients that do not have covered conditions. Give us a call and we can help you determine whether your condition can be paid by insurance. If it cannot, we can work out a treatment protocol that can help you feel as good as you did before your condition arose! Call us at (408) 356–7438.
Medicare covers Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for approved conditions, and many insurance companies also cover approved conditions. If your condition is not approved by your insurance, we can discuss our special rates. Give us a call at (408) 356–7438. We are happy to discuss your options with you.
Costs for purchasing a hyperbaric chamber vary wildly. If you are interested in purchasing a hyperbaric chamber, give us a call, and we can talk you through the process of choosing the right type of chamber for your condition.
For conditions that are not covered by insurance, Bay Area Hyperbarics offers affordable rates, bundle discounts, and special rates! Give us a call at (408) 356–7438 to see what you qualify for!
At Bay Area Hyperbarics, we can tell you if your condition is covered by Medicare or your insurance. For conditions that are not covered by insurance, Bay Area Hyperbarics offers affordable rates, bundle discounts, and special rates! Give us a call at (408) 356–7438 to see what you qualify for!
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery.
It is simple, effective and painless.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery.
It is simple, effective and painless.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery.
It is simple, effective and painless.
Bay Area Hyperbarics clinic is in San Jose. If you live outside this area, you can often find a hyperbaric facility near you, if you check in your favorite Maps application.
You can receive hyperbaric oxygen treatments at Bay Area Hyperbarics is in San Jose, CA.
You receive hyperbaric therapy at a hyperbaric oxygen therapy clinic, such as Bay Area Hyperbarics. Give us a call today at
Our highly experienced physicians and technicians have provided almost 100,000 treatments since we opened our doors in 1998.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a painless, relaxing and non-invasive treatment. Our patients often tell us they feel relaxed and alert after their treatment.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is approved by the American Medical Association, Medicare, the FDA, the Mayo Clinic, and insurance companies to treat a variety of conditions.
San Jose/Los Gatos Clinic
14589 South Bascom Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95032
Monday-Friday: 5:30 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 7:30 am – 4 pm
(408) 356 - 7438
(408) 356-7438
FAQ
info@oxygenheals.com
(408) 356-7491