How many hyperbaric treatments are usually needed?

A typical course is 33 sessions, which can be extended if needed. Each session lasts around two hours and they are given daily, with the protocol set by the condition being treated.

A typical course of treatment, called a dive routine, lasts for 33 sessions, but can be extended if needed.

That’s thirty-three daily sessions of about two hours each. Put that way, the size of the commitment is clearer than the number alone suggests, and it’s worth knowing before you agree to a course, not after the first week.

The number is typical, not fixed. Hyperbaric dives follow specific proven dive protocols depending on the condition being treated, so the number for a particular person is set by what is being treated.

It’s also worth keeping in mind a narrower point: hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help some wounds heal faster.

Some wounds. A set course is not a guarantee of a result, and the number of sessions describes the protocol, not the outcome.

The practical questions that come with 33 daily sessions are mostly not clinical ones: transportation, work, who comes with you, and what happens if sessions are missed. Those are reasonable to ask the unit before starting, and they’re better answered then than figured out later.

Sessions usually go to 2.4 atmospheres at 100% oxygen, with two ten-minute oxygen breaks within each one to prevent oxygen seizures.

What to watch for

Thirty-three sessions is typical, and a course can be extended if needed. Protocols depend on the condition being treated.

The therapy can help some wounds heal faster, which is narrower than a promise of benefit from completing a course.

If daily attendance for several weeks is going to be difficult, raise that with the unit before the course starts.

Wound Wizard is general education and can’t tell you how many sessions you would need. The unit providing the treatment is the right one to ask.

What we look at

  • Deciding whether the therapy suits the wound
  • Setting the protocol and number of sessions
  • Reviewing the wound during the course
  • Deciding whether to extend or stop

Sources

  1. Hyperbaric Therapy for Wound Healing — StatPearls, National Library of Medicine https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459172/
  2. Wound care centers — MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of Medicine https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000739.htm