Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Please click HERE to view the HBO treatment schedule and find a time that suits.

Background

Oxygen is essential to every one of the tissues in the body and any tissue injury requires oxygen for healing. Research in the University of Dundee has shown that, in the inflammation that is typical of MS, the transport of oxygen is severely limited by tissue swelling. It has been shown that, despite the blood flow increasing many times, there may be a severe lack of oxygen in the affected area so that, just when oxygen is needed most, it cannot reach the tissue in sufficient quantity.

Oxygen therapy, where the normal amount of oxygen in the air is many times exceeded, is widely used in medical practice, notably in the USA, Europe Japan, Russia and China primarily to treat carbon monoxide poisoning and aid the healing of injuries and wounds of different types. It is being used increasingly in neurological diseases such as stroke and in head and spinal core injury. Its use in multiple sclerosis has been controversial, largely because its function and the expectations of its effects have been widely misunderstood. However, studies have shown that it is beneficial. The process by which damage to the nervous system is caused in MS clearly cannot be prevented by oxygen therapy, but, as already discussed, the body normally heals itself using oxygen from the air - therefore giving additional oxygen extends the body's ability to heal and can limit some of the damage which the disease causes.

Why should this be? Breathing oxygen under pressure causes the dilated and leaky blood vessels in MS to constrict back to normal size and reduces the swelling, due to fluid gathering, which can lead to cells dying. Paradoxically, at the same time, more oxygen is delivered to the bloodstream so the net effect is to improve and accelerate the normal healing process. Drugs can also constrict blood vessels but, in doing so, they actually reduce the available amount of oxygen. It is obvious they cannot replace oxygen.

The aim of oxygen treatment in MS is thus to minimise the amount of damage being caused, promote rapid healing and limit the scar formation which can prevent nerve function being restored. Clearly this is most appropriate as soon as possible after symptoms become apparent. The main objectives of any useful therapy in the established disease is to limit further damage rather than expect to cure existing scars. Prevention is not only better but more realistic here, than cure, and, while there are many accounts of improvement or stabilisation in the variety of neurological functions by Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBO) treatment in MS, it has been in bladder function that positive results have been most frequently described by researchers.

Measurement of bladder capacity and emptying have shown that oxygen treatment has a distinctly beneficial effect and a two year study at Glasgow demonstrated the importance of maintaining regular HBO treatment to prevent the progressive deterioration in bladder function commonly found with MS. The value of such prevention of irreversible bladder nerve damage is measured not only in terms of comfort and well-being for an MS person, but also in the minimising of the tendency toward chronic bladder infection and the kidney damage which may have long-term consequences.
The use of HBO is not confined to MS. We regularly give therapy to people with sports injuries (some famous sportsmen amongst them - Murrayfield Stadium is the home ground of Scottish Rugby), people with leg ulcers and difficult wounds, children with Cerebral Palsy, hamstring injuries, people suffering from cancer and many other conditions.

Practicalities

All MS Therapy Centres have a decompression chamber. Our chamber in Edinburgh can hold 6 to 8 people in comfortable chairs. Wheelchair clients of the chamber can stay in their own chair, which replaces one of the usual seats. If necessary, we can remove more chairs to make room for a trolley chair and an attendant. We can lend oxygen masks to new clients but, once they have settled in, most people prefer to buy a mask to be kept for their own personal use.

A session lasts about an hour and a half, of which the first 5 to 15 minutes are spent getting the chamber up to pressure and the same letting the pressure down again at the end with an hour for treatment in between. Many people read a book or magazine during this time. Clients can chat during compression and then are asked to put their masks on when the final pressure has been reached.

We use three different pressures which are the equivalent to the pressure at 16.5, 24 or 33 feet below water. A new client will go through an induction period, during which time we aim to a) saturate the body with oxygen in order to kick-start the healing process as described above, and b) establish at which pressure the person feels the most benefit. Each individual is different and so respond to different pressures.

After the induction period, which consists of 15 sessions over three weeks, a client will return once or twice a week and should expect to build this visit into their routine. Again, highlighting the individuality of the condition, some clients find that they cannot manage for a whole week without the extra oxygen and therefore come back twice a week, while others manage for a fortnight between visits.