FAQ-9

9) Won't my doctor just recommend HBOT if I need it?

It would be reassuring if the answer was an absolute yes, but routinely, hyperbaric medicine is not taught in medical schools, so except for treating the "bends" that occur in diving accidents, most doctors are not that familiar with HBOT, and usually have no opportunity to be exposed to any facet of Hyperbaric Medicine during their careers. Furthermore, when there is no accessible HBOT facility available to their practice, it becomes a major impediment for physicians to consider HBOT as standard therapy for any indication, let alone any "off-label" indications, such as stroke.

The Hyperbaric Medical Center of New Mexico, for example, is the first facility of its kind in the State of New Mexico, and that is why part of this web site seems very technical in nature, because our mission is to help educate physicians that come to it as a resource as much as the general public. Once a physician understands that under hyperbaric conditions it is the amount of oxygen dissolved in the blood plasma that allows the body's oxygen supply to be increased and reach damaged tissues there is recognition of HBOT's potential, and with that recognition will come an awareness that HBOT can be recommended to patients.

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