Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may be key in treating PTSD and TBI

CENTRAL TEXAS - Veterans could soon have a better way to treat post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

Some medical officials believe this could have a big impact on the number of suicides by returning vets.

Now local counties are signing on to back a new course of treatment. Both Milam and Lampasas Counties passed resolutions Monday in support of using hyperbaric oxygen therapy for veterans.

The use of hyperbaric oxygen chambers has been around for years, but medical officials are just now taking note of the healing effects they could have on the brain.

Veterans suffering from PTSD or TBI could soon be on the mend with the help of hyperbaric oxygen therapy or H-BOT.

Rainey Owen, whose grandson suffered from TBI after surviving three improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan, says many veterans in Texas would benefit from the treatment.

125,000 Texas veterans, that while they were in fields of combat, had some forms of brain injury, a concussion, they loss consciousness, something of that nature."

Owen is working to raise awareness and bring hyperbaric oxygen therapy to Texas veterans.

"If we have 125,000 of them we got a bunch of people that are handicapped every bit as much as those that lost a limb or any other kind of disablement, says Owen.

For one hour a day, five days a week, the patient would be inside a hyperbaric chamber. It increases the amount of oxygen in both the red blood cells and tissue in the body.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy may be key in treating PTSD and TBI