Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) allows a patient to breathe 100% oxygen at pressures greater than normal atmospheric pressure. The pressure causes the blood to take up greater volumes of oxygen, which speeds the healing process by increasing blood flow and oxygen receipt to damaged tissues. HBO has proven effective for a variety of health conditions including burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, diabetic ulcers, wounds that won’t heal, soft tissue infections, and more. Many doctors have begun using HBO to help plastic surgery patients recover more quickly after surgery. HBO helps minimize swelling, cut down pain, and speed up the body’s healing processes. Oxygen also has an anti-bacterial effect, which helps reduce possible infections, or fight off infection if a patient has complications. The therapy is said to reduce recovery times by 33 to 50 percent.
The time to think about post-surgical healing is before surgery. One of the best things that can be done to speed up recovery time is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). Plastic Surgery recovery in a healthy person can heal up to 75% faster using HBOT, before and after surgery. Less pain, scars, down time for the patient, and infections are reported. Patients can return to work faster, with less bruising, or swelling. The patients also feel better overall.
Cosmetic surgeons are recommending hyperbaric oxygen particularly for patients who have problems with healing. These “problem cases” are often caused by internal disease processes including diabetes, degenerative diseases, poor nutrition, smoking, and suppressed immunity. In complicated cases, HBOT can salvage even the worse of scenarios, from significant flap ischemia, to infectious complication and poor wound healing.
