Hyperbaric Oxygen Providers List Alaska - Florida

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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not list Cerebral Palsy, brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer, mitochondrial conditions as approved conditions for the use of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). HBOT is used to treat 15 conditions, some are; "the Bends" that divers can experience when coming up too fast, Air Embolism (air in the bloodstream), Carbon Monoxide poisoning, burns, wounds that are difficult to heal, and recently added Diabetic foot. Oxygen under pressure is considered a drug, therefore it falls under the FDA's jurisdiction. Any other drug approved by the FDA for treatment of one condition, can at the discretion of the doctor, be prescribed for any condition, except HBO. When a drug is approved for use by the FDA, insurance and Medicaid and Medicare will pay for the treatment.

Many parents who are trying the HBO with their children with brain damage are showing remarkable results. We are getting reports from parents all over the world that their children are experiencing improvements in the areas of speech, spasticity, vision, hearing, and behaviors. Autistic behaviors are reduced or eliminated and many report reduction or complete stopping of seizures. Children of all ages, even adults are showing the same improvements. It does not work for all children and we have heard of a few cases in which the children showed no improvements. The children with the milder impairments seem to be showing the most improvements. The results are very encouraging!

MUMS is providing information of where people can go to obtain HBO. We surveyed HBO clinics in May 2004 and we are providing the information given to us by the clinics. We cannot verify the accuracy of the information provided to us. Services and prices change. MUMS is only providing a list of clinics and is not recommending any of these places! You must determine the safety of the protocol used, and expertise and experience of the staff of the clinics listed.

The following is a list of people you can contact for more information. Some clinics have monoplace chambers and some have multiplace chambers. We are told that only a monoplace ("place for one") can safely treat by pressurizing with 100% oxygen. Some clinics will allow a parent to go in a monoplace chamber with the child and this seems to be an accepted practice. If more than one person is being treated in a chamber it should be through a mask or preferably, for comfort, through a hood.

Some clinics are more accessible than others. If you have claustrophobia (fear of being in confined spaces) and cannot go in the chamber with your child this needs to be discussed.

Some providers may give discounts for larger numbers of treatments in a row or for prepayment. Some may offer free for hardship cases. It doesn't hurt to ask. The protocol that we are hearing is most used is 1 hour treatments (at pressure) once a day of 1.25 - 1.50 ata for 40 days for first session. Some parents are opting for twice a day treatments, but are taking a 4 hour break inbetween treatments. Recent reports are coming in from parents who are doing too many in a row using the twice a day protocol that their children are getting toxic and regressing. One mother got 100 treatments for her son in a two month time period. He stopped talking and walking which he had been able to do after the first 40 treatments. It took 6-8 weeks for him to start progressing again. Please read "More is Not Better." by Dr. Harch on this website. We are hearing it may be best to take a day off every 5 or 6 days to allow the brain to adjust to using the new brain cells. Many parents see more improvements the two to three weeks after they return home from the series of treatments. Dr. Paul Harch, who has been doing research since 1995 using HBOT on children with brain damage, believes that 40 treatments is recommended for the first series, because some children don't respond until 30 treatments and some may require 200 or more treatments total. Four to six week breaks between series are recommended and these should be individualized. (See Dr. Harch's letter). Because this is a new treatment for brain damage and Cerebral Palsy the best protocol is really not known for sure. One treatment a day using pessures of 1.5 ata or less (1.25 ata if child has a seizure condition) are where we are seeing the best results. Most doctors or HBO technicians would not use any pressure higher than 2.0 ata because they feel this may be too high and dangerous causing oxygen toxicity. That is why we need more studies! Every child responds differently to oxygen so monitor your child's response and take a break if you feel your child is regressing or showing negative reactions such as nausea or increased or unusual seizures.