What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
One of the highly specialized treatments offered at the center is hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which works by surrounding the patient with 100-percent oxygen at higher than normal atmospheric pressure. This increases the amount of oxygen in the patient’s blood and, in the case of wounds, allows red blood cells to pass more easily through the plasma into the wound to heal it from the inside out. Diabetic foot wounds are an excellent example of wounds that may benefit most from this type of treatment.

How Does It Work?
Relaxing on a bed encased within a large, transparent plastic shell, patients can watch movies on televisions and VCR players mounted above the chamber while hearing the movies and conversing with others outside the chamber through a speaker system.

How Does It Feel?
The only physical sensation resulting from the treatment is a slight pressure on the eardrum, such as that felt when a plane lands, as the air in the chamber is compressed.

In addition to tissue oxygenation, the Center for Wound Healing at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center also employs the use of vascular studies, tissue cultur- ing and pathology, revascularization, skin grafting, and clinical or surgical debridement.