Take a deep breath of pure, fresh oxygenated air.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized chamber, is often associated with high-profile professional athletes and celebrities looking to achieve peak performance and look and feel their best.
Now, Princeton Integrative Health is offering HBOT at its functional medicine practice. This is a significant addition to holistic health and wellness services in the region.
Used in this country for nearly 100 years to treat such conditions as decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning and diabetic foot ulcers and other wounds by delivering oxygen-rich plasma to our tissues and cells, HBOT works by pumping more oxygen into the body, stimulating the release of substances that promote healing.
“The more oxygen that goes into the body, the more it gets into the tissues and cells, igniting a host of healing,” Dr. Vincent Leonti, PIH medical director, said. “Our bodies really like oxygen. We are thrilled to be able to offer HBOT as an additional option for patients seeking safe, innovative healing modalities.”
In recent years, medical professionals have also been looking at hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a treatment for fatigue associated with long COVID, as well as a way to boost immunity to help prevent a host of diseases and improve overall quality of life.
While the FDA has not yet cleared the use of HBOT for the treatment of COVID-19, it has authorized its use for a number of conditions, including air and gas bubbles in blood vessels, severe anemia, severe and large burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, crush injury, decompression sickness, gas gangrene, hearing loss, nonhealing wounds and diabetic foot ulcers, severe infection of the skin or bones, and more.
For years, many of these conditions have been treated using HBOT in hospitals.
“We are one of the few private practices in the region with an on-site hyperbaric chamber,” Leonti said. “It’s very exciting and, of course, convenient for our patients.”
