Hyperbaric
Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is gradually gaining popularity as an effective
treatment option for a number of medical conditions. HBOT is used equally by
common people as well as celebrities and sports-persons to boost their health
and fitness.
The
healing of an injury caused in sports has its own natural recovery process, and
follows almost a constant pattern regardless of the cause beneath. This process
constitutes 3 phases:
1. Inflammatory phase
2. Proliferative phase
3. Remodeling phase
The
hypoxia-induced factor-1α has been found to be important in the inflammatory
phase. The hypoxia-induced factor-1α promotes, for instance, angiogenesis,
vascularization, and the glycolytic system. However, if we can control the
oxygen supply without promoting the blood flow, it would be possible to control
blood vessel permeability, to diminish swelling and thereby, sharp pain.
In
proliferative phase, the supply of oxygen to the injured region is increased in
musculoskeletal tissues, except cartilage. Oxygen is vital for the generation
of extracellular matrix components like proteoglycan and fibronectin.
In
remodelling phase, tissue replacement takes place gradually over many hours,
employing the supply of oxygen provided by blood vessel built already into the
musculoskeletal system organization, with exception of cartilage. In case the
damage is minor, it's possible to recover the tissue with almost perfect
organization. However, if the damage extent is large, a scar constituting
mainly collagen, may substitute the tissue. Depending upon the injury,
consequently, the collagen becomes hard or loose for muscle repair or ligament
repair respectively.
HBOT
application for treating sports injuries has been recently suggested as a
therapy modality in scientific literature. A therapy modality is an adjunct or
a primary treatment. Although the results are promising when it comes to using
HBOT as treatment modality in case of sports-related wounds and injuries,
however, the studies are limited because of small sample sizes, randomization
problems and lack of blinding.
Even
less number of studies can be seen in the literature that refer to the
application of HBOT in case of high level athletes. Ishii and colleagues outlined that
HBOT was used as a recovery therapy for muscular fatigue in Nagano Winter
Olympics. In this experiment, HBOT treatment was provided to 7 Olympic athletes
for 30-40 minutes at an atmospheric pressure of 1.3 ATA, with an average of 2
treatments per athlete and a maximum of 6. It was discovered that all the
athletes benefited from Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, and the recovery rates were
found to be faster. These results agreed with the results obtained by
Haapaniemi and colleagues and Fischer and colleagues, which outlined that
ammonia and lactic acid were removed faster through HBOT, resulting in shorter
recovery periods.
Owing
to the effectiveness of HBOT in healing sports injuries, more and more
sportspersons and athletes are using it to recover from injuries and also to
boost their overall health and fitness.
Our
state-of-the-art hyperbaric chambers are spacious and provide healing oxygen
therapy in the most comfortable settings.
Bird Medical Devices, Mumbai, India.
Tel:91-22-65 655 123
Cell: 9769 484 123 (or) 9769 006 123
Email: indiahbot@gmail.com (or) info@indiahbot.com
