How to prepare for your first hyperbaric oxygen treatment?
Make sure that you have had a good meal within 2 hours of your treatment. HBOT stimulates the metabolism so you burn through fuel quickly during your treatment.
Please bring a list of your current medication so that we can make sure there are no contraindications with the HBOT.
For your safety, we do not allow any electrical devices in the chamber and no telephones. We suggest that you bring a book, a magazine, a writing pad, or a favorite movie to watch during your treatment or you can choose to watch a Netflicks movie provided by Nirvana. No newspaper is allowed.
Please let us know if you have ever had any problems with your ears or if you have trouble clearing your ears when you are in an airplane. If you have had previous trouble clearing your ears, we suggest that you use a topical decongestant nasal spray such as Afrin or Vicks Sinex 60 minutes prior to your treatment.
We always encourage clients to bring in a cup of water to drink during the treatment, or some crackers or gum to chew on. The “swallowing mechanism” seems to be the best way to help your ears clear naturally.
We will provide you with 100% cotton scrubs to change into for your treatment.
Please leave any “hard or impermeable” contact lenses at home. Eye glasses and soft contacts are allowed.
Please limit the amount of hairspray, makeup and perfume that you wear.
No hearing aids.
Please remove all jewelry except for your wedding band.
What to expect during your first hyperbaric oxygen treatment?
After we get you comfortably situated in side your own luxurious chamber it is time to sit back and relax. We turn on your favorite movie or you curl up with a book that you have been dying to read but have not had the time until now.
The door closes and the oxygen is turned on. You will hear a light “hissing sound” this is the sound of the oxygen filling up the chamber. As we pressurize you, the temperature will increase slightly, no more than a 10 degree increase. This is due to the gas laws associated with HBOT, it is called “adiabiatic” heating. You will be treated at a medical doctor prescribed depth, as there are different pressures for different indications. It will take approximately 10 minutes to get you to the prescribed depth. During the entire length of your treatment one of our certified hyperbaric technicians (CHT)will be directly outside of the chamber ready to assist you.
Once you reach depth, your treatment officially begins. As an adult you will be at depth for 70 to 75 minutes. When we treat children the time at depth is only 60 minutes. Should you want to take a nap once you are comfortably at depth, our CHT is there to turn off the movie or turn off the reading light.
When your treatment time has concluded, we will slowly depressurize the chamber and bring you back to sea level. This is a five to 10 minute process making the entire treatment time 90 minutes. During the ascent your ears will pop, this is normal and it is the desired reaction. You will notice that the temperature will cool slightly, once again by no more than 10 degrees. This is called “adiabiatic cooling.”
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