Over view:

Equine Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy gives the veterinary practitioner one more weapon in their arsenal to enhance tissue healing after injury from trauma, inflammation, or hypoxia-ischemia and in a variety of other indications when used as an adjunct to traditional veterinary techniques for equine athletes and pleasure horses.

Equine Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has enabled the treatment of multiple conditions not previously possible. 

How does HBOT work?

The air we breathe contains about 21% oxygen, with the remainder made up of nitrogen and tiny amounts of other gases. Red blood cells take up oxygen from the lungs, carrying it in dissolved form to all parts of the body. Even breathing pure oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure increases it only slightly.

However, putting a horse in a hyperbaric chamber and increasing the atmospheric pressure to much greater than normal is very effective in enhancing the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood and other fluids in the body to about 15-20 times more because oxygen is forced into the plasma in addition to being carried by the red blood cells.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, refers to a treatment in which a patient is placed in a sealed chamber and exposed to oxygen at several times normal atmospheric pressure. Oxygen is forced into the blood and other body fluids (lymph, cerebrospinal fluid, bone marrow), destroying bacteria and helping  heal to injuries faster than ever before.

How is this technology available?
Hyperbaric chambers designed to treat horses are large, heavy, and complex to produce. The design is constantly being updated, and the newest models resemble circular stalls with enough room for a horse to move around and even lie down during treatment.