Wisconsin Integrative Hyperbaric Center

This is a wonderful place, and completely unknown by most of the thousands of drivers who pass this location daily. The clinic specializes in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT. The principle behind HBOT might sound familiar to you. Yes, a hyperbaric chamber is used by divers to recover from the bends, but it is used for so much more!
HBOT is being used to treat autism, wound care, stroke, cerebral palsy, brain injury, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, lyme disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury and post-​surgical healing, sports injuries and spinal injuries, just to name a few therapies.
Why go through this? Injured tissue begins to heal when oxygen reaches it. Oxygen reaches tissue through blood cells, blood plasma, cerebral-​spinal fluid and other body fluids. In order to promote healing, more oxygen promotes more tissue growth and the ability to carry away disease.
At sea level, the pressure of air is measured at 1 atmosphere, or 1 atm. The weight of a 1″ column of air, which is about 50 miles high, is 14.7 pounds per square inch. To reach the level of 2 atm, the weight of that same 1″ column of air must be doubled. Since it isn’t possible to extend earth’s atmosphere to 100 miles, the simplest way to reach 2 atm (29.4 PSI) is through mechanical means.
The equipment here is simple enough — an air-​tight pressure vessel (a steel tank) an air compressor to build pressure and a supply of oxygen. The «diver» climbs into a large pressure tank, at WIHC, it is large enough for two people to sit in comfortably. The chamber is filled with compressed air until the diver reaches the prescribed depth. The diver wears a plastic helmet and breathes 100% oxygen for one hour. After breathing one hour of oxygen, the compressed air is released from the tank
At 1 atm, the body inhales about 6 pounds of oxygen per day. At higher pressure, the body is forced to inhale more deeply. By introducing a pure oxygen atmosphere, for one hour, at a pressure of 2 atm, the body will inhale 2.4 pounds of oxygen! Red blood cells pick up this extra oxygen immediately and carry it to the body. HBOT patients tend to develop new arteries and capalaries. The net result is an increase in blood oxygen levels, as high as 2000% in some cases.
Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy is being used in numerous therapies. Experts are making tremendous headway with autism by using HBOT, it is used to treat brain injuries and in anticipation of surgeries where potential infections must be avoided. Athletes use HBOT to increase blood oxygen for stamina and to speed the healing of injuries.
The Wisconsin Integrative Hyperbaric Center is one of the premier providers of HBOT in the area.
For more information about HBOT, see the website of the International Hyperbarics Association
and the official website of the Wisconsin Integrative Hyperbaric Center.