Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Hi Lane, what is the pressure in your mHBOT unit? What is the investment? Regards, Jan

 

Hi @Jan64,

The pressure goes up to 1.3 ATM, which is the maximum allowed by law in the U.S. Apparently, the Summit to Sea Dive Model I purchased is designed for 1.5 ATM +, and there's a way to retrofit them if a person was intent on doing that. I paid $5,500 for the chamber, and $900 for the oxygen concentrator--cheaper than what it's been in the past.

You can apparently get the same benefits of HBOT at the lower pressures, but need to stay in them a little longer to do so. -- These units apparently keep their value quite well, so if I find I don't end up using it as much as I anticipate I will, I feel I can keep it for a year or two, and still sell it at 80-90% of what I paid for it.

 

HBOT is not available today in many cities of Russia.

Pressure chambers - this is too expensive, you need to deal with the supply of oxygen cylinders and keep changeing them. Followed by the technical side of the issue.

It is easier for the doctor to prescribe useless pills with unproven effectiveness, and wash your hands.

This is capitalism. In the USSR, in every small clinic there were cameras for HBOT.

Capitalism has destroyed medicine for man.

 

I just ran across a pretty good article on HBOT (link below), and thought I'd post the introduction to it. Below the link is a comment I made on the website about my "age spots" lightening after using HBOT for only a couple of weeks.

I highlighted words below that I think are particularly pertinent to tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. Given the certainties they know about HBOT, it's easy for me to see why some people with tinnitus benefit from it right away. Given how long it takes injured, traumatized ears to heal, I believe many more would likely benefit if they did mHBOT long-term.

There are numerous success stories on this forum of tinnitus improving significantly, or even going away completely after many months--even years. I can't help but think mHBOT could likely shorten that healing period if it was done daily, or even 2x daily. That would translate into as many as a thousand HBOT sessions. Which is WAY more than the traditional 10-20 or so sessions many have reported trying, but didn't notice any improvement. -- Below is the article...
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It is no wonder the anti-aging industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars with the myriad of popular creams, lotions, and supplements. But, there is one cutting edge treatment you might not have ever heard of and it’s called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). HBOT has been proven effective in treating virtually any condition in which poor circulation plays a role including everything from traumatic brain injury to ADD/ADHD, but the latest buzz on HBOT pertains to anti-aging.

HBOT has been a growing choice of many top actors, actresses, and models, whose skin is constantly in the limelight. Have they found the secret to looking young? Depending on how you define aging, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may be the proverbial “fountain of youth.” HBOT promotes cell repair, age spots, saggy skin, wrinkles, poor collagen structure, and skin cell damage by increasing circulation to the most peripheral areas of the body, which is your skin. In a recent study, mice were exposed to UVB rays, known to prematurely age your skin, and when placed in oxygen chambers developed fewer wrinkles and showed fewer signs of tissue damage overall..

In animal experiments, it has been shown that HBOT helps stabilize the inside lining of injured blood vessels. Hyperbaric oxygen treatments stimulate angiogenesis, growing new blood vessels into tissue, and in 2007 has been demonstrated to cause stem cell release from our bone marrow into our circulation. HBOT has been shown to have detoxification effects and suppresses inflammation, this is beneficial since most of our chronic diseases can be stemmed from chronic inflammation.

Amen Clinics

I just made the following post at the above linked website:

I recently purchased an in-home mHBOT unit ($6,400, incl. oxygen concentrator). I’ve been using it regularly for about two weeks now. I’ve gotten a number of benefits, but have been most astounded by the significant lightening of most of my “age spots”. If I can get a 50%+ improvement in two weeks on just my skin, I can easily see the benefits this therapy will likely bring to the rest of my body, especially my brain and neurological system.

 

There's one other thing I keep in mind as I pursue my mHBOT therapy with the intent of it improving my tinnitus. I've long known that HBOT therapy can be of significant benefit to people who've had various brain traumas going back many years. And who've had paralysis and other debilitating symptoms ever since.

Apparently, many of these symtoms result not from brain cells dying, but from brain cells going into "dormancy". And the reason HBOT can improve those symptoms is because it brings those brain cells out of dormancy. I don't see why this wouldn't apply in some manner to the traumas our ears and auditory cortex have experienced as well.

 

Hyperbaric therapy: who benefits?
Though its healing potential is vast, only 13 uses are approved. Some local doctors think that should change.

From the above linked article:

Some studies have shown that a patient who undergoes 40 days of hyperbaric oxygen treatments for about one hour each day ends up with eight times as many stem cells circulating through the body. That stem cell boost is what piqued Cain’s interest in hyperbaric therapy.

 

Hi guys,

I have had acute tinnitus for 6 weeks now after a loud club. Would HBOT still potentially be effective? There's a clinic in my city and I can afford to give it a go.

 

Hi @Aklara319,

The supposed "window" of when HBOT is "possibly" able to make a difference is 8 weeks in, so you're still within that threshold. Some things to be aware of if you decide to give this a try.

1) Some of these HBOT units can be quite loud. From my experience, most really aren't designed or set up for maximum quiet. Given how sensitive our ears are, this noise can potentially spike or aggrevate tinnitus or hyperacusis (did for me).

2) It's important to have relatively good functioning Eustacian Tubes that can readily adjust to the regular pressurization and depressurzation. I was having a "bit" of a problem with that, but was able to get past it by doing the Valsalva Maneuver.

When I visited my Osteopath 2 days ago, I told him about some of those problems. So he had me do this Maneuver while he looked in my ears. He said both my Eustachian Tubes were "frozen up" or something like that. He then did a very gentle technique to unwind the "torque" around my ears (or something like that). I was amazed how much it relaxed a fairly wide area on both sides of my head around my ears.

I'm still experimenting with my home mHBOT unit, and though my ears can still slightly spike from being in the chamber, I'm not overly concerned as it still only lasts about an hour or so. I don't know if it's the pressurization and depressurization that's stressing my fragile ears, or increased blood flow, or what. It could also be the noise from oxygen concentrator being too close to the chamber (I'm getting an extension). It could also be the slight hissing I hear in the chamber that releases any CO2 buildup, while at the same time allowing fresh air to come in.

I've read one story on this forum by a guy whose tinnitus would go away while he was in the chamber, but would then spike for a day or so afterwards. If I remember correctly, this happened 3-4 times until the day came where it went away in the chamber, and NEVER came back. This is the hope. And since you're within the 8-week window (which is just a guess BTW), I would certainly give it a try. I wouldn't sign any contracts for multiple visits however until you can get a sense of whether this therapy is a good fit for you.

All the Best!
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Valsalva Maneuver for Eustachian Tube Dysfunction

The Valsalva maneuver helps equalize air pressure in the ears. It can keep the eardrum from rupturing due to sudden air pressure changes experienced while flying, scuba diving or deep-sea diving. This maneuver may also be recommended as a treatment for middle ear fluid. To perform this maneuver, pinch the nostrils closed. While keeping your mouth shut, blow gently as if you were blowing your nose. This technique forces air into the eustachian tubes of your ears, equalizing air pressure in the middle ear (the space behind the ear drum).
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P.S. I started at 2.0 ATM in a hard chamber, but discovered that was too intense for me. I found the 1.75 ATM to be better in terms of comfort and a feeling of less stress on my ears. Home mild mHBOT units are restricted by law from going over 1.3 ATM. I don't know which one you'll end up using, but you can get the same benefits from the lower pressure by just staying in a little longer, say 1 1/4 hours instead of 1 (which is the standard time + the pressurization and depressuriation times).

 

Had my first session today. The right ear feels plugged and the T slightly louder in that ear, but all else went OK. I’m assuming it will pop soon and the T go back to normal.

My only concern going in was the potential to worsen things due to barotrauma. Does anyone have experience with that?

 

sip water during ascend and descend to help equalize the pressure

 

Thanks @Eric N . Did you experience a T spike after your first session? My right ear is a little full.

 

Yah it will make your feel full for a day or so, I decided to stop doing my after the third session as I got a new tone, but I am not sure if it HBO related or just a coincidence.

 

Ok, thanks @Eric N. Did that second tone ever subside? I’m all for giving this a shot, so long as it doesn’t make things worse.

 

unfortunately not, it might have gotten a bit better with time until another trauma made it much worse

 

Is it true that your tinnitus goes away while you are in the chamber? @Eric N

 

not for me, it made no difference what so ever.

 

It did for me.

 

Hello everyone,

I have a question about this treatment.

I have found the only clinic that performs HBOT in my city, because it's very expensive and the only doctor is getting some sort of additional education and will be a available at November 26. I will start the treatment immediately. I will be getting 20 sessions.

They said the chamber is at 1.5-1.6 bars and they use some sort of high grade medical oxygen. They have published a study about treating patients with their unit and had great results. They are confident that I have good potential for treatment and recovery.

They only thing that worries me that my onset was in first days of October and got very noticeable and bad by October 10. So by the time that I can start the treatment it will be already ~8 weeks after onset. Is it going to be effective at that point? Or should I rush to another city where they perform this treatment? It's been ~6 weeks. I've seen reports that is the most effective within 6 weeks after onset. It's expensive and on top of that I will have to book a hotel for 20 days. I don't have enough free cash right now for this.

So my questions are:
1. Does the 2 extra weeks of waiting around will make a difference? (6 weeks vs 8 weeks after onset) Should I gather up money and rush to another city to get it right now?
2. Is the pressure in the chamber is adequate enough? 1.5 - 1.6 bars.

Thank you.

 

Hi @Arseny,

I did 3 mHBOT sessions at 1.3 ATM at a local ND's office about 6 weeks after my initial onset of tinnitus. I then did a total of HBOT sessions starting at 2.0 ATM at a local clinic 8 weeks after my initial onset. The 2.0 ATM turned out to be too intense for me (and my ears), and we decided to lower it to 1.75 ATM, which I did better with. After doing these sessions, I didn't notice any significant change in my tinnitus, but I did notice a HUGE difference in my neurological resilience. It essentially gave me a greater ability to deal with stressors, including tinnitus.

After this experience, I decided mHBOT on a long-term basis would be the best way to go moving forward. So I purchased an mHBOT unit in September, and have been using it daily since then. The biggest thing I've noticed is that my sleep has improved dramatically. My tinnitus has not gotten much better, but it HAS stabilized. To the point where I can now sleep without any kind of white noise. I don't know if my marginal tinnitus improvement is directly from the mHBOT, or whether it's some kind of by-product of much improved sleep.

But my intuitive sense is that this therapy is so good for me, and I am optimistic it will improve my tinnitus in the coming months/years. In other words, I look at my tinnitus improvement protocol as a long-term venture. For me, spending a lot of money on relatively short-term therapy would have prevented me from making the investment I feel I needed to make for my longer-term strategy. -- Regarding your two questions:

I don't believe the 2-week difference between 6 and 8 weeks is particularly important, especially since you don't appear to have had a precipitating event like acoustic trauma. That's just an opinion, but it's based on my sense that my regular mHBOT sessions starting about 7 months after onset have done more for settling down my tinnitus than my 10 HBOT sessions did 8 weeks after initial onset.

Re; the pressure: -- I've been told that one way to make up for the lesser amount of pressure in a 1.3 ATM mHBOT unit is to stay in the chamber a little longer. The benefits of HBOT is not so much a matter of the amount of pressure, but the amount of oxygen that can get dissolved in the body. Adding another 15 minutes to a session will generally compensate for the lower ATM. But for me, that equation pales in significance when I think about going into my home chamber twice a day for the coming year, perhaps as many as 500 sessions or more. I personally think that's where most people's success with helping their tinnitus will come from.

BTW, there are some potential drawbacks to being in a clinical setting as opposed to having a home unit. Briefly, in a home unit, you have greater control of the pressurization and depressurization cycles, which can be easier on the ears. Also, the two different chambers I was in prior to getting my own home unit were really quite noisy. If you decided to go forward with your sessions, you may want to check on that loudness. Could be a big factor depending on the status of your ears. -- I was able to purchase a separate "silencer" for $300 to eliminate most of the sound in my chamber. -- My total cost for my chamber is around $7,000. And used chambers hold their value quite well.

All the Best!

 

HBOT provides more oxygen to damaged cells in your body, thereby half dead cells begin to recover.
For oxygen to reach these cells, there must be a significant activity in these cells. If damaged cells are in the brain or the ears, you must activate area where are damaged cells located while you inside the pressurized room.

So, when you go to HBOT, while you inside the pressurized room you have to trigger your brain or ears areas that causing the noise, otherwise treatment is useless.

For example, if your tinnitus connected to a concentration, you probably need to be concentrate on something while in the pressurized room.

 

I've experienced SSNHL in my left ear at 6KHz down to 55db, and a slight improvement at 8KHz.

Mine happened on the 14th August- is it worth me trying a few of these sessions?

I have tinnitus in the affected ear.

 

@Lane
Thank you so much for such a detailed answer!
I will discuss the points you've mentioned with the doctor who's going to do the procedure.
Regarding the origin of my tinnitus I suppose it has been aggravated by noise although I'm not sure. I've used headphones, music in cars, etc for years without problems, but in October this year it suddenly started and ramped up pretty fast for unknown reasons. I did an MRI on November 2 and it gave me significant increase in my volume and I started hearing noises in my right ear.
I hope HBOT helps. I will report back once I start the treatment.

 

Hi everyone. Just an update. I'm through 6 HBOT sessions--90 mins per session up to 2.5 atmospheres. Still early, and tough to say whether it is helping. Things do seem a little quieter. I will keep you posted. By ten, I'll decide whether to continue or whether to drop it.

I started at 6 weeks into my T caused by acoustic trauma.

 

Is it safe to do HBOT with suspected ETD?

I have done an OAE + extended audiogram up to 16000 hz and I have no hearing loss.
The doctors suspect that I might have ETD. They told me that my eardrums a sucked in a little bit. And I have slight Type C tympanometry.
I have received a course Dexamethasone injections and on 5th or 6th injection symptoms of ear fullness, fluttering and physical feeling of pressure on my left ear drum have started to subside. Right now I don't think I have experienced them at all for the last 3 days. The high pitch hissing noise is about the same or maybe a little bit better. So it might be the case that steroids reduced inflammation that has been causing this weird eardrum feelings.

Today I decided to go out to the clinic without earmuffs to see if there's any difference. I wear earmuffs when I'm around cars and traffic.
It gave me an additional tone that has yet to subside completely. I had experienced this before and it subsides within 5 minutes to a day.
I've noticed that I get this tone ~1600 hz even after I take a shower, which is about 60 db. This is extremely weird. The tone is very quiet and noticeable only in silence with my earmuffs on, but it's definitely there.

These weird spikes give me a reason to think that my tinnitus might be from cumulative noise exposure.
Has anybody ever experienced a spike from loud noise if your tinnitus is not noise induced?
It's been 8 weeks from the onset (or at least the acute phase) and I'm due to start treatment in 2 days.
Is there any potential risks for people with suspected ETD?

 

I completed 10 sessions. I didn't notice a difference, but the effects may manifest in the short-medium term. I don't regret it, since I was well within the range of reported effectiveness. My tinnitus is minor, and if it fades in the next few months and I don't know exactly what caused it to do so, I'll take comfort that I did everything possible.

 

Are you going to continue on with the treatment? Did you notice any spikes after HBOT? Are you taking B complex vitamins and Betahistine?

 

I’m not going to continue on with the treatment. The studies I read suggested to do 10 sessions and to evaluate your progress at that point. I noticed spikes, but they only lasted a few hours. By the next morning, all was normal.

I took a B complex before tinnitus and will continue to do so. I am also taking magnesium citrate.

 

You should think (and probably say) "no detected hearing loss". There is such thing as "hidden hearing loss" (read Liberman) - and it's not about high frequencies, it's about synaptopathy that isn't detected with Pure Tone Audiometry testing.

That being said, it's still better to ace the test than the other way around.

 

I did my first HBOT session today. 30 minutes at 1.3 atm. I will try to get a 60 minute session next time. Even though doctors suspect I might have ETD I didn't experience any significant difficulties in equalizing the pressure.
They unit wasn't very loud. I would measure it about 70 db. Slightly louder than a shower. I have exchanged messages with @Lane and he's concerned that it might be too loud.
I have experienced a spike after I got out. A new tone, but it's gone now.
Overall I feel that my tinnitus is raging right now. It might be 10-15% louder, but it's very hard to deal with.
I feel like I have mild hyperacusis, but I'm in panic so I can't say anything objectively.
I'm afraid to continue the treatment, but my current state is quite severe so I'm desperate for any treatment that can alleviate or cure my tinnitus.
I will post an update regarding my situation.

 

I have a question does a 2 day break in this treatment makes a difference?
The clinic that I'm being treated at is closed Saturday and Sunday.
So far I have received 4 sessions and will be getting 5 consecutive sessions next week.
I've read that it's most effective if you do it every day for 10-15 days.
There's a local military base that has an HBOT unit too, but they are refusing to let me in, because I don't have security clearance. So I'm out of options and I have to take a 2 day break.