Tag Archive for: hyperbaric oxygen therapy

5 Tips For Traveling With Oxygen

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Air travel is stressful at the best of times, but it can be nearly impossible for patients with pulmonary hypertension since traveling at high altitudes can cause a decrease in oxygen level in the blood. For some patients, air travel may be out of the question altogether, but this is not always the case. If you or someone you know has pulmonary hypertension and/or uses an oxygen tank to breathe, don’t discount booking a flight just yet. First, speak to a pulmonary physician to check whether it is safe for you to travel. If the answer is yes, then be sure to follow these 5 tips for traveling with oxygen and pulmonary hypertension.

Tips For Traveling With Oxygen

1. Get A Letter From Your Doctor

If your pulmonary specialist deems you fit to travel by plane, be sure to ask them for a letter that describes your medical requirements for travel at high altitudes. This letter will help you obtain supplemental oxygen and streamline your security checkpoint and boarding process.

2. Complete Airline-Specific Forms

Before you book your ticket, make sure to check the airline’s policy on traveling with oxygen tanks. Certain airlines may require specific paperwork to be filled out by you or your doctor and to be brought on the date of the flight. Make sure you book your flight with enough time for your doctor to fill out the paperwork and get it back to you.

3. Arrive Early & Board Early

Even with perfectly laid out plans, getting through an airport oftentimes takes a lot longer than we expect. That is why it’s a good idea to get to the airport a few hours in advance, especially if you’re going to be bringing medical equipment and supplies. Once you’re at your gate, feel free to ask the attendants about pre-boarding. Doing this will ensure that you have enough room in the overhead compartment for your carry-on bags since your oxygen tank will be at your feet.

4. Rent or Buy a Portable Oxygen Concentrator

A portable oxygen concentrator, also known as a POC, can help patients keep their blood oxygen level high while flying at a high altitude. This equipment is vital to bring onboard since most airlines don’t provide medical oxygen. These devices can be rented or bought through your regular oxygen supplier.

5. Charge Your Batteries

When flying with medical equipment, be sure to bring charged batteries and extra batteries, just in case. The Federal Aviation Administration actually requires that anything being used throughout a flight have a battery life that lasts at least 150 percent of the flight time, so be sure to bring your equipment fully charged and pack a few extra batteries as well.

More Information

Having pulmonary hypertension doesn’t immediately disqualify someone from being able to plan an air trip, it simply takes a few extra steps to ensure the person’s safety. If you would like to be seen by one of our pulmonary specialists to determine whether you are safe to travel (or to stay in a hotel in the mountains), contact us today to book an appointment, we’ll do our best to get you there safely.

What Is Oxygen Therapy?

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Did you know that the air we breathe contains only 20% oxygen? While this amount is generally sufficient for a regular person, people with chronic lung or breathing conditions may find it extremely low. Therefore, when blood oxygen levels are low, you may feel shortness of breath, fatigue or confusion.

Furthermore, in the long term, lack of oxygen in the blood can pose serious health risks, that are better to be prevented than treated. That’s why oxygen therapy was created for people to deliver oxygen to their bloodstream. Let’s take a look at oxygen therapy, how it works, who needs it, the benefits and what it’s used for:

What is Oxygen Therapy?

Oxygen therapy is a treatment that provides additional oxygen to patients who struggle to obtain enough. As you may know, different diseases and ailments can cause a person to not receive enough oxygen. Because of this, oxygen therapy is a viable solution for those people to receive the oxygen their bodies need to function normally.

Who needs Oxygen Therapy?

Simply feeling shortness of breath isn’t always a qualifier for needing oxygen therapy. It’s likely your doctor will require blood tests to study the amount of oxygen in your blood levels. Once your doctor can definitively determine that your blood levels are low, he or she may then recommend you oxygen therapy, whether long-term or for a short period of time.

What are the symptoms of low oxygen?

When you aren’t receiving enough oxygen, you may experience one or more symptoms including rapid breathing, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, wheezing, sweating, and fatigue. These symptoms can negatively impact your daily habits and overall quality of life.

How does Oxygen Therapy work?

The oxygen is usually administered through a breathing tube, a mask or nasal prongs. People with chronic breathing problems may also receive a portable oxygen tank so that they may have access to the oxygen anywhere outside the clinic. There are a few different oxygen therapies that can be prescribed based on a patient’s analysis results, including oxygen gas, liquid oxygen, oxygen concentrators and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

In hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you will breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized room or through a pressurized tube, allowing your lungs to gather more oxygen than they normally do. In this pressurized room—or hyperbaric chamber—the air pressure is increased up to four times the normal air pressure level.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy used for?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used to treat many different serious infections, wounds and more. Just a few include:

Benefits of Oxygen Therapy

Both oxygen therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy deliver incredible benefits to those being treated. When administered regularly or until the doctor deems necessary, oxygen therapy can aid in easier breathing, increase exercise tolerance, improve sex life, and facilitate to safer air travel. Additionally, oxygen therapy can reduce the complications associated with COPD, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure and more by relieving shortness of breath, fatigue, and dizziness. On top of that, for COPD patients, oxygen therapy can even prolong life.

Many people need long-term oxygen therapy to prolong a normal, active life, as oxygen therapy assists in making everyday activities easier and more pleasant. If you feel constant shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, or have any chronic lung conditions, don’t hesitate to contact our center to see if oxygen therapy can be helpful for your particular condition.