Suffering a stroke often comes with questions, research, doctor appointments, and many stroke recovery stages. As a traumatic event, a stroke can impact your life in ways that are unexpected and difficult to grasp. The good news is there are new treatments popping up regularly and many options available to aid in recovery. Hyperbaric chambers, in particular, have been around to treat ailments for some time and are now used to help stroke recovery.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy can help patients in any stage of stroke rehabilitation. The ability to stimulate more learning potential and engage in rehabilitation with the help of pure oxygen flow in a pressurized setting allows the patient to learn at a quicker pace and the brain to remember and hold onto this growth.
Stroke victims don’t need to feel helpless. With the capabilities of these machines and the rate of learning that can take place, many sufferers see relief and continued progress during rehabilitation. Keep reading to learn more about the use of hyperbaric chambers and oxygen for stroke patients.
Hyperbaric Chamber for Stroke Rehabilitation
After a stroke it is necessary to enter some form of rehabilitation to help your body recover. A fairly new form of treatment for this ailment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is able to help stroke victims’ bodies get back to working function by aiding the process of neuroplasticity, or, the brain’s ability to learn and remember new tasks.
What Happens in a Hyperbaric Chamber?
Within Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, the patient lies inside of a hyperbaric chamber in order to get an increased amount of oxygen comparative to what we normally breathe in. This is done in a pressurized chamber. By receiving more oxygen than normal, the brain is able to focus more energy on relearning movements and other abilities that it lost due to the stroke.
This ability of the brain to hyperfocus helps neuroplasticity happen at a faster speed. With stroke victims, it is often necessary to practice repetitively to relearn tasks and movements, so this extra focus is highly beneficial for continuous relearning.
When is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Utilized?
An incredible feature of hyperbaric chambers is that they can be used at any stage of stroke rehabilitation once the patient is stable. An individual who had a stroke last month and an individual who had a stroke 10 years ago can both see progress by using this form of therapy. This is great news for those who have tried other methods and were unsuccessful, as this can give them another avenue to try.
Final Thoughts
The benefits of hyperbaric chambers and increased oxygen seem limitless, and it is a worthwhile rehabilitation method for those looking for stroke support. With the abundance of recovery treatments available and every case being different, it is best to talk with a medical professional about the options that are best suited to help. Initiating a conversation about hyperbaric chambers can open up doors for a new treatment design that can change the trajectory for those still suffering after a stroke.
