Inflammation and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

When most people hear the word "injury," they typically think of cuts, bruises, or brain injuries. However, from a medical perspective, any form of tissue trauma qualifies as an injury. This includes the ingestion or inhalation of toxic chemicals, auditory trauma from explosive blasts, infections, immune responses, allergic reactions, hypoxic events (such as strokes or near-drownings), and any condition that causes pain, redness, or swelling—whether internal or external. All these scenarios trigger the inflammatory process. Immediately after an injury occurs, the blood vessels supplying the damaged area dilate to increase blood flow, flooding the region with white blood cells. Excess fluid from these dilated blood vessels then leaks into the surrounding tissue, leading to edema (swelling). The primary role of white blood cells is to "clean up the damage": they release substances called oxygen-free radicals to break down and metabolize dead tissue. Unfortunately, these oxygen-free radicals also oxidize some healthy cells in the process, which can exacerbate pain and cause further tissue damage. Toward the final stage of the inflammatory process, genes are activated or deactivated to release hormones necessary for healing, tissue regeneration, and scar formation.

In various medical conditions—particularly autoimmune diseases and traumatic brain injuries—the inflammatory process may become prolonged or overly active, giving rise to chronic symptoms. Common signs of chronic inflammation include fever, debilitating fatigue, muscle and joint pain, skin that feels warm to the touch, loss of mobility or function in the affected area, swelling, and depression.

Research in the field of emergency hyperbaric medicine has demonstrated that if a patient can be placed in a hyperbaric chamber within a few hours of injury, up to 90% of the inflammatory process can be prevented. Studies have confirmed that increased pressure, elevated oxygen levels, and the combined effect of these two factors can influence the expression of over 8,000 different genes—accounting for approximately 40% of the entire human genome. As Dr. Paul Harch notes, gene expression regulates all physiological processes that sustain life in the human body. With hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the expression of anti-inflammatory genes is "upregulated" (i.e., their activity is enhanced), along with genes that stimulate cell growth, tissue repair, and the prevention of cell death. Conversely, the expression of genes that trigger the inflammatory process is "downregulated" (i.e., their activity is reduced). Consequently, if a patient receives hyperbaric oxygen therapy immediately after an injury, they can avoid excessive inflammation while still promoting the rapid healing and regeneration of damaged tissue.

Fortunately, even if a patient cannot access hyperbaric oxygen therapy immediately after an injury—or even decades later—subsequent treatment can still yield benefits. The mechanisms by which hyperbaric oxygen promotes cell growth and tissue repair, as well as the anti-inflammatory properties of oxygen itself, remain effective in such cases. Through treatment, chronic inflammation can be significantly reduced, and symptoms caused by inflammation and residual damage from old injuries can be alleviated.