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Has anyone tried Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Crohn's?

The title pretty much says it all...just wondering if anyone has tried it. I read that some trials have shown promise but theres trouble with the data. I think if I could heal myself with Oxygen that would be pretty awesome....
 
They put you in a pressurized chamber and you breath pure oxygen for anywhere from 30 minutes a day to 8 hours a day...they use different levels of pressure for different things and people obviously tolerate the pressure differently
 
I wanna try it but I have a feeling my doc wont "prescribe" HBOT which means my insurance wont pay which means its probably not happening ...
 
Sorry, I just saw this. My son did this for 30 treatments. There are different types of systems. I highly recommend the large system where you are in with others. You can read etc. and there is a much lower risk of issues related to fire etc. It really helped to facilitate wound healing for him while he was healing from a mismanaged abscess that became huge. It is time consuming and difficult to get coverage for in the U.S. but we were very glad we did and that he was able to take advantage of this. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I am not sure why!
 

nogutsnoglory

Moderator
There are uses for oxygen therapy in certain conditions but only by licensed practitioners in a medical setting. There are many quacks looking to inject, or place you in an oxygen tank with all sorts of claims and these are potentially very dangerous. Personally I don't see why this would help IBD at all. I wouldnt touch this for crohns.
 
We went to a major teaching hospital with 2 large hyperbaric chambers that treat up to 10 people in each. My son was seen by a hyperbaric medicine MD before and after each treatment as was everyone else. There are some "fake" units that carry high risk and don't yield the excess oxygen levels.

The theory for this with Crohn's (perianal usually) is that the hyperperfusion of oxygen aides in healing. Studies also show some anti-TNF properties from HBO2. We primarily used it for wound healing since the abscess was unearthed, had been there a long time and was huge. There were people in their for a large variety of reasons. Most is for diabetic wounds, some for carbon monoxide poisoning, some brain cancer (it really helps people to keep symptoms at bay from inflammation around the tumor). We talked with so many people helped by this therapy. It is much more expensive in this setting but the care was great. In fact, my son's doctor in the chamber was a pediatrician for 25 years and then became a wound care doctor and then got his hyperbaric medicine board certification.

If you go this route, make sure you are monitored and you are doing it in a large chamber. Then you will know you are in a good place. Also, a board certified physician in hyperbaric medicine overseeing things is a must!
 
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