The first step is to contact your healthcare provider for a referral to Advanced Wound Care at YRMC. Next, contact us to schedule an appointment.

 

A consultation with a wound care expert with YRMC’s Advanced Wound Care Department – conducted by one of our physicians – includes three steps that are the building blocks to a customized care plan:

• Medical History – Gathering information from patients on health problems that contribute to non-healing wounds, such as diabetes, peripheral vascular disease and autoimmune disorders.
• Lifestyle Assessment – Discussing diet and lifestyle to create an effective care plan.
• Wound Examination – Examining the non-healing wound and possibly debriding it during the first visit.

The Advanced Wound Care team uses this information to develop a customized care plan that is reviewed with the patient at the next scheduled appointment.

 

After 30 days, a wound becomes a chronic wound – one that requires medical help in order to heal.

 

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a medical treatment that uses high pressure oxygen to heal tissue. The treatment takes place as the patient lies comfortably in a specially designed pressurized chamber infused with 100 percent oxygen. The chamber is usually pressurized to a level at least two and a half times the pressure at sea level. When breathing pure, pressurized oxygen, a significant amount of oxygen is dissolved into the blood, which helps the healing process.

 

Originally, this treatment was used to help divers who surfaced too quickly and developed decompression sickness, also called the “bends.” Today, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is used to treat many medical conditions, including:

• Bone infections
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Crushing injuries
• Ulcers (diabetic, stasis, venous)
• Embolisms (blockages in the bloodstream)
• Gangrene
• Non-healing surgical wounds
• Radiation tissue damage
• Skin grafts or skin flaps with complications

 

You’ll be comfortable in one of our “monoplace” hyperbaric oxygen chambers. The tube-shaped hyperbaric chambers are 41 inches in diameter and 7-feet long. Our acrylic chambers are clear, allowing patients to see out during treatment sessions. You can watch television or a movie during your treatment.

 

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is painless. At the beginning and end of the treatment you may feel a sensation similar to an airplane take-off or landing. As the pressure is released at the end of the treatment, your ears will automatically “pop.”

 

Some patients develop temporary changes in eyesight. In these cases, vision should return to pre-treatment status within eight weeks after your treatments.

 

YRMC’s Advanced Wound Care team follows strict safety procedures. Before the first session, patients receive a thorough orientation to Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Here are our safety rules:

• No hairspray, hair gel, wigs, hair pieces, makeup or jewelry is allowed in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.
• Patients are provided a special 100 percent cotton gown to wear prior to entering the chamber. Some people bring cotton socks to wear during their treatment.
• Books, magazines and newspapers are not allowed in the chamber. (There are televisions in the chamber area.)
• People who have diabetes should eat a normal meal before arriving for treatment. (Blood sugar must be greater than 100 to start the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.)

 

People diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) as well as anyone who has ever suffered a collapsed lung are not permitted to have Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

 

The number of treatments you need will depend on your specific problem and how you respond to the therapy.

 

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy treatments may be scheduled five-days-a-week for up to six weeks. Individual sessions can last two hours.

 

The Advanced Wound Care Department has a comfortable lobby area for family and friends.

 

A YRMC Advanced Wound Care Department nurse and therapist will monitor you throughout your session from an adjacent room.

 

Contact YRMC’s Health Information Management Department to get copies of your medical records.

 

YRMC’s Patient Financial Services can help you with questions regarding your bill.