Watch the Podcast

In a Special 5-part series with Extivita’s Nurse Practitioner, Elena Schertz, and Safety Director, Tom Fox, we dive into the extraordinary powers of HBOT, and the healing they have witnessed for a variety of conditions. Part 1 was released on 3/17/2023 with a focus on PTSD for veterans.

In Part 2 of 5, we discuss concussions, and the importance of treating concussions with Hyperbarics within days of the injury. 

Host di Girolamo starts the conversation talking about the adolescent group in Wake County, North Carolina and stating that it’s his understanding there are approximately 3,000 adolescent concussions from sport injuries in this county alone (the country HBOT News studio and the clinic, Extivita-RTP is located at).  This opens a door to discuss concussions and how critical it is to treat a head injury in the acute (very early) stage.

It’s a classic prognosis we’ve all heard regarding healing from concussions, ‘Rest your brain. Time will heal’. 

Tom Fox explains, “Time also makes things worse”. 

He uses a defensive back, Shazier, as an example. Shazier was injured and had a neurological injury with a contusion to the spinal cord. His prognosis was not good, and he was expected to become a quadriplegic.  What’s critical in a case like this is the implementation of hyperbarics in a timely fashion, before any swelling can cause a scar to form.; as this can be the difference between whether the patient will be able to walk again, or if he/she is going to spend the rest of their days in a wheelchair.  Shazier played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and was under the care of Dr. Joseph Maroon (who was portrayed as a character in the movie, Concussion). Thanks to Dr. Maroon’s passion to treat with HBOT, Shazier received HBOT quickly, and is walking today! It’s a fascinating story of healing!

Since hypoxia and inflammation are the root cause of injury and illness, Fox expresses that it’s beyond time the medical community works together and starts asking the question, ‘Hey, which one of your patients would benefit from use of oxygen to relieve hypoxia and inflammation?’. Fox also mentions that concussions and strokes are similar in the way that they need to be treated with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy immediately before brain damage can be done.

It’s only evolving if you let it evolve, but if you actually have a timely implementation of therapeutic hyperbarics, then it may not be evolving. It may be stopped in its tracks. We as a community need to be better at communicating with the mainstream medicine and saying, ‘Hey, listen, we have a therapy that can make the difference in your patient’. You know, it’s not an alternative. It’s actually the drugs that are the alternative. So let’s try to reestablish and take care of the hypoxia that’s causing the injury.

Elena stresses that she’s seen many concussions in the clinic, and that if they can treat with HBOT preferably within 24 hours (although that’s not realistic many times), but at least within the acute phase, which is 72 hours, then it’s only two or three hyperbaric dives that the patient needs in order to return back to their baseline.  In addition, she reiterates that even if the patient is in a subacute or chronic stage of concussion there’s still hope.

I also want to emphasize that even if it’s ten weeks out or a year out or ten years out, we’ve also seen benefits in those folks. But if we get them right away, it can bring them right back to baseline immediately. Like within three dives, like I said, 3 to 5, and I’ve seen that.

The number of treatments a patient would typically need is discussed, with Tom and Elena stressing that a 40 dives is excessive for concussions in the acute stage — even multiple concussions. Other factors come into play with a 40 dive protocol, including comorbidities.  Tom Fox makes an excellent point in regards to the 40 dive treatment protocol that so many medical providers think is needed for a patient to complete HBOT dives and heal. 

The thing with hyperbarics is it’s gotten a bad rap for extended protocols like 40 treatments. 60 treatments. Who can do that? Who can afford to do that? You know, why doesn’t insurance companies reimburse for this? Because usually it’s an extended course of therapy that requires an extraordinary amount of money. And that’s one of the chief things that holds us back.

Treat early and you will often eliminate the need for 40 or 60 treatments. If the concussed patient can get hyperbaric treatment immediately, then they will likely only need a handful of treatments. If you do this, HBOT treatments can be very affordable since the patient can return to their base line very quickly; eliminating the need to sit in a dark room and rest the brain, or deal with the migraines and dreaded post-concussive syndrome that typically follows a bad concussion. Like everything in the medical field, the treatment in Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is no different.

Early intervention is key.

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