Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT)
Hyperbaric oxygen (HBOT) is a treatment sometimes used to promote wound healing. The patient sits in a small room for sixty minutes to ninety minutes, and breathes pure oxygen at a higher than normal pressure. HBOT often requires a long series of treatments. HBOT has been tried in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning, radiation tissue damage, stroke, migraine, and cerebral palsy. HBOT has not been clinically tried for the treatment of epilepsy; however, some families in the Toronto area have tried it at their own expense.
HBOT promotes healing, but there is, at present, no evidence that it helps epilepsy. Patients are warned that HBOT may trigger seizures and may result in their practitioner increasing their anti-epileptic medication if they insist on using HBOT. The risk of seizures occurring due to treatment is estimated at one in 5000. HBOT is available without prescription in the USA and in Vancouver; however, in Ontario, for use in epilepsy, it is not covered by OHIP. It has been suggested that people with epilepsy avoid this type of treatment.
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