The Most
Common Side Effect
By far, most common side effect that your patients will experience in the hyperbaric chamber, is pressure in the Ears. This feeling is
equivalent to that experienced when taking off or landing in an aircraft. To ensure the treatment is relaxing, prior to entering the chamber you can educate
your patients on how to relieve this pressure. Some of the techniques recommended for patients are:
This pressure effect will typically only be felt for the first 5 minutes as the pressure increases in the chamber. The more effective your patient is at applying the above techniques, the less likely pressure will be an issue.
The
second most common side
effect is claustrophobia.
This can be dealt with in a
variety of ways, and it is
vital that this condition be
taken seriously. It may
require some patience on
your part, as you may have
to slowly introduce the
patient to the chamber. In
this case, some ideas to
consider include:
-
Place
the patient in the
chamber for a few
moments, to get
acclimated to the
environment. Each time
they enter the chamber,
increase the time spent
until they are
comfortable.
-
Aid
your patient with a
relaxation method, by
having them focus on
their injury and
healing. For example,
when you have a patient
with a diabetic foot
ulcer, he/she can use
his/her mind to envision
healing in that area.
This serves two purposes
- calming them and
potentially aiding in
healing.
-
Provide
relaxing music, reading
material or another kind of
distraction (such as an external mounted LCD TV) to keep
their focus on something
other than the enclosed
environment.
-
For severe
cases of claustrophobia, you
can utilize sedation.
Sedation can be done safely
and does not inhibit the
hyperbaric chamber results.
A rare
side effect is oxygen toxicity
caused by taking in oxygen at
elevated pressure and can
infrequently result in seizures.
Almost always, this side effect
will go away once the treatment
stops. Oxygen toxicity as a
result of hyperbaric oxygen
therapy is an extremely rare
side effect. Another rare side
effect is change in vision.
Vision changes occur in the
occasional patient, but also
will clear up after treatment is
completed.
Once you
have completed your purchase of
a Sechrist hyperbaric chamber,
consider preparing an
informational packet with some
of the above ideas to prepare
your patients for hyperbaric
oxygen therapy.
Sechrist is
committed to being a long term
partner for all hyperbaric
oxygen therapy providers. We
will continually update our
website, with the newest
research, products and ideas to
help our customers keep up with
all the latest information and
technology. This is in addition
to receiving the best technical
support, warranties, parts, and
maintenance in the industry. |
