HBO has a very large potential and really cures a lot of human ills, from traumatic brain injury after an accident to the complications caused by diabetes.
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| Hyperbaric chamber (source: wikimedia.org) |
A hyperbaric chamber is substantially pressurized tank, where you breath 100% oxygen at higher pressure than atmospheric. Chamber pressure usually resides around 2.5 atmospheres. Such pressure dissolves up to 460% more oxygen in the blood than the atmospheric pressure. It is not only bound to the hemoglobin of blood cells, but is directly dissolved in the blood plasma and penetrates into the cells by diffusion (remember that auditory cells breathe only by diffusion). Theoretically, if we increase the pressure in the chamber by about 1 more atmosphere, the body would allegedly not need red blood cells for its survival.
With timely application of HBO damaged auditory cells can survive. I have myself attended 36 sessions in a hyperbaric chamber. Unfortunately, I learned about it almost a month after my accident, so its help at that time was only limited. Nevertheless, I believe that without treatment, even though late, I would now have my tinnitus much worse.
See one interesting paper on the basis of experience implies that HBO may be effectivelly used up to 3 months after the acoustic trauma or ototoxic damage:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9547879
Interesting curiosity: During one session in the hyperbaric chamber I have purposely held my breath, so that I can verify purity of oxygen. I endured not to breathe for the whole 5 minutes! While in the atmospheric pressure I can hold breath for less than 40 seconds.
