Living with diabetes comes with challenges, including wound care. That’s because high blood sugar can damage your nerves and veins, preventing healthy oxygen-rich blood from reaching your extremities. 

And without proper blood flow, it’s more difficult for sores, cuts, and other wounds to heal. But our team of fully trained and certified wound care providers can help.

At Wound Evolution - Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, our team has advanced training and the experience to treat even the most complex wounds. Our goal is to heal wounds as quickly as possible and to preserve limbs and prevent amputations.

If you have diabetes, here’s how hyperbaric oxygen therapy can help your wound heal.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy basics

As we mentioned above, having consistently high blood sugar can interfere with blood flow throughout your body. And your body needs the oxygen your red blood cells carry to heal.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy works to correct this oxygen deficiency by delivering 100% oxygen to you in a pressurized environment. This may sound uncomfortable, but the entire process is completely painless. 

You simply sit in a room or tube with slightly increased air pressure while breathing pure oxygen. The added pressure in the space increases the amount of oxygen your lungs absorb, consequently increasing the oxygen in your blood.

This natural approach helps restore healthy oxygen levels within your system, which, in turn, helps your cells fight bacteria and infection. 

Wounds that respond to hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Our team relies on hyperbaric oxygen therapy for numerous wounds, including:

Plus, we can safely use hyperbaric oxygen therapy in conjunction with other wound care techniques, like bioengineered skin grafts.

What to expect during your treatment

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a relaxing and comfortable process. We offer this treatment at each of our locations, and the process lasts approximately two hours.

Before your treatment begins, we ask you to remove any personal care products containing petroleum and give electronic devices like cell phones to your provider. Oxygen is flammable, so we don’t allow these items within the treatment area.

During your appointment, you sit or lie comfortably on an exam table. Then we place a lightweight mask or hood on your head. These devices release the steady stream of pure oxygen that you inhale directly into your lungs.

The room where you receive your hyperbaric oxygen therapy is under increased pressure, so your ears may feel as though you’re in an airplane or at a high altitude. Swallowing or yawning can help relieve this pressure.

In most cases, there’s no downtime after hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatment, and you can resume regular activity immediately. But you could feel a little tired or hungry after your session.

To get the best results, we might recommend a series of hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments to fully support the healing process.

Do you have a diabetic wound? Call one of our four offices to learn more about hyperbaric oxygen therapy or request an appointment online today. We have locations in Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Dallas, Texas, as well as Overland Park, Kansas.


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