What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, often called HBOT, is a medical treatment in which a patient breathes oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. In this video, the hyperbaric team at Hill Country Wound Care & Hyperbarics explains what HBOT is, how the increased pressure changes the way oxygen is delivered through the body, what a treatment session is like, and how the therapy may be used for appropriate patients as part of a broader wound care plan.
Hill Country Wound Care & Hyperbarics
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Team
This video is presented by the hyperbaric oxygen therapy team at Hill Country Wound Care & Hyperbarics, including technicians from our Live Oak and Southwest San Antonio centers.
About This Video
Hyperbaric technician Ross Garcia begins by explaining hyperbaric oxygen therapy in straightforward terms. During HBOT, a patient breathes 100% oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. Ross explains that the increased pressure allows more oxygen to be delivered throughout the body, where it can support processes involved in healing. He also introduces Hill Country's monoplace chambers, which have clear acrylic walls and allow patients to watch television during treatment.
Ross then describes several ways increased oxygen may support care for appropriate patients. In the video, he discusses the role of oxygen in helping white blood cells fight infection, supporting the effectiveness of certain antibiotics, promoting the growth of new blood vessels, reducing swelling and inflammation, and supporting healthy tissue formation. He also explains how HBOT may be used as part of a broader treatment plan when physicians are working to limit tissue damage and reduce the risk of serious complications. Ross, who has worked with hyperbaric and recompression chambers since 1991, also walks through what a treatment session is like: the chamber is brought to the prescribed treatment pressure, and once there, patients can relax, drink water, and watch television during the session.
The second half of the video introduces members of Hill Country's hyperbaric team and the patient experience they work to create. Linda, a hyperbaric technician at the Live Oak location, talks about helping patients feel like part of the family rather than "just a wound." Eddie Avalo, a technician at the Southwest San Antonio location, discusses caring for patients with complex medical needs and helping new patients feel heard and understood. Marisa Hirschman, a medical assistant, hyperbaric technician, and phlebotomist, describes supporting patients throughout their course of care. The video closes with a patient sharing the hope she experienced during her treatment journey.
Key Takeaways
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HBOT delivers 100% oxygen inside a pressurized chamber, at two atmospheric pressures instead of the one we live at.
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The team explains it simply: cells need oxygen to live and heal, and HBOT increases the oxygen available at the cellular level.
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Increased oxygen enhances white blood cells' ability to fight infection, including infection in the bone, and improves the effectiveness of certain antibiotics.
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It promotes growth of new blood vessels to improve circulation, reduces swelling and inflammation, and supports formation of healthy tissue and wound healing.
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It helps limit the spread of tissue damage and may reduce the risk of amputation.
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The chambers are monoplace units 40 inches in diameter, with clear acrylic walls and a television above so patients can relax during treatment.
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A treatment, called a dive, goes to the prescribed depth, after which patients sit back, relax and watch television for the remainder of the session.
- 08
Hyperbaric technicians at the Live Oak and Southwest San Antonio centers describe supporting patients and families through their wound healing.
Video Transcript
Edited transcript of the video. Speakers include hyperbaric technicians from Hill Country Wound Care & Hyperbarics and one patient.
Ross Garcia: At Hill Country, we pride ourselves on having the most innovative products as well. One of our most advanced technologies are the hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers. We have monoplace chambers. They are 40 inches in diameter. They are the largest monoplace chambers on the market, capable of holding somebody over 600 lb. So there's plenty of room — crystal clear acrylic walls all the way from your feet to your head, with a TV right above you to relax and heal in comfort, enjoy your favorite show, and start your journey.
Ross Garcia: A lot of people ask what hyperbaric oxygen therapy is, and I like to explain it to my friends and family in a very simple way. And it's simply that we all understand that our cells need oxygen to live and heal. We breathe air that has 20% oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen delivers 100% oxygen, and it does it at two atmospheric pressures, where we live at one. Five times the oxygen levels, two times the normal pressure, delivers 15 to 20 times the amount of oxygen at the cellular level to help the body heal from inside.
Ross Garcia: This increased oxygen helps in several important ways. It enhances the ability of white blood cells to fight infection, including infection in the bone. It improves the effectiveness of certain antibiotics. It promotes growth of new blood vessels to improve circulation. It reduces swelling, inflammation. It supports formation of healthy tissue and wound healing. And it helps limit the spread of tissue damage and may reduce the risk of amputation.
Ross Garcia: My name is Ross Garcia, a hyperbaric oxygen therapy technician here at Hill Country Wound Care and Hyperbarics. I've been operating chambers, hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers and recompression chambers, since 1991. And once you as a patient do your first dive, you conduct your first hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment, you go to pressure, go to your prescribed treatment depth. Once you get down there one time, the rest is easy. You sit back and relax, enjoy a bottle of water, watch your favorite TV show on TV. Easy day, right? We'll entertain you as long as you want to, to make sure you complete your hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
Linda: My name is Linda. I work here at Hill Country Live Oak. I am the hyperbaric tech. So I am here to help you with your journey of your wound healing. We want to make sure that you feel like you're a part of the family. We will not allow you to feel like you have come here as just a wound, but we want to treat you as a person who is now someone that is a part of our family.
Eddie Avalo: Hello, my name is Eddie Avalo. I'm a hyperbaric technician here at Hill Country Wound Care at Southwest. I've been doing hyperbarics for about 6 years. Hyperbarics is the most advanced therapy out there in the wound care industry. Most of our patients deal with a lot of complex issues, most commonly diabetes, and here in our center, we use a therapy to help them out. As a new patient to Hill Country Wound Care, we want you to be heard. Sometimes you feel like you don't have a voice. You don't advocate for yourself, but we're here to help you out. Anything that's concerning you, anything you don't understand, our doctors here, our staff here, they're really knowledgeable. They'll get you answers. So if you feel lost or anything like that, you found a place. We can come up with a plan and have something in place and we can help you out. And you're family here.
Marisa Hirschman: Hi, my name is Marisa Hirschman. I've worked at Hill Country Wound Care for almost four years now. I'm a medical assistant. I'm a hyperbaric technician. I'm also a phlebotomist. What I want patients to know is that we're here for them. I love my patients. I love caring for people and seeing them from start to finish — coming in worried, scared, sometimes crying, and seeing them to the end where they get their life back and they're happy and full of joy and love and can't wait to get back out on the beach after being wrapped up for weeks on end.
Patient: This time next year, I'm going to be walking, and this summer I can go in the lake after my grandkids. And it gave me a lot of hope. I want to thank Hill Country Wound Care for everything they've done for me, because it has changed my life. I felt like I was getting the best care ever.
Learn More About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Hill Country's HBOT treatment page, covering physician evaluation, qualifying indications and where treatment is available.
The Complete Guide to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in San Antonio
A deeper written guide covering HBOT, treatment considerations and patient education.
What to Expect During Your First HBOT Session in San Antonio
A practical step-by-step guide to preparing for and going through an HBOT session.
Have Questions About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
If you have a wound or condition that may qualify for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, our physicians can evaluate whether HBOT may be appropriate as part of your treatment plan. Hill Country Wound Care & Hyperbarics provides onsite HBOT treatment at our Live Oak and Southwest San Antonio locations. Our Bulverde clinic provides HBOT evaluation and coordination, with treatment performed at Live Oak or Southwest San Antonio when appropriate.