Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & Burns
Burn injuries to the skin can have lengthy, costly and have cruel ramifications. Emergency care for those life threatening problems come first such these include: sepsis, pneumonia, infected wounds, inhalation injuries, and respiratory failure. Burn patients usually require prolonged hospital stays with an increased cost of care. With the countless advances in the medical fields over the recent years, few have been made with burn care.
Wounds can progress due to the lack of oxygen and nutrients to the skin because circulation interruptions that are necessary to sustain viability. These wounds can progress from a partial thickness to a full thickness burn.
Burn wounds are very susceptible to infections. These infections themselves can be life threatening. Recovery times are lengthy, painful and very costly.
Recent studies are demonstrating the efficacy of using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (in the treatment of partial and full thickness burns). HBOT has demonstrated that a significant reduction and the prevention of edema (the abnormal accumulation of fluids) while maintaining or preserving microcirculation of the skin. Preserving microcirculation decreases the conversion of partial injuries to full thickness injuries. HBOT facilitates healing therefore decreasing hospital stays and reducing hospital cost. HBOT reduces the need for skin grafts and surgery. HBOT can increase the survivability of skin grafts. Wound sizes may be decreased in size as much as 35% in 48 hours. Recovery times can be greatly reduced.
The reduction of burn scarring can be directly treated to the healing time example: if burns are treated with HBOT within 10 days then scarring is limited to 4% on average, 14 days scarring is limited to 14%, 21 days 28%, <21 40%. Preventing scarring is critical because it is the scarring that causes the limitations to the ranges of motion.
Contact Dr. Skaggs for more information for treating burns with HBOT. At Skaggs Chiropractic, Your Recovery is Priority ONE!