Osteomyelitis is a condition where the bone tissue is inflamed, typically the arms or legs, but it can affect any bone. It is usually caused by a bacterial infection. It’s common for kids to be affected by this disease. The condition can be painful, cause fever, chills, soreness in the infected area, sometimes nausea as well.
What Causes Osteomyelitis?
Osteomyelitis may set in after an accident or injury. The bacteria can enter the bone through the bloodstream or other infected areas of the body. This kind of bone infection in kids is called hematogenous osteomyelitis. An infection can also occur directly from surgery or open fractures, untreated infections in the skin or joints.
The condition is common in children under 5 but can occur at any age, mostly in boys than girls. Although it is not contagious, in rare cases, it can pass from one infected person to another.
How to spot Osteomyelitis?
If your child suffers from pain in the bones, has fever and discomfort, visit a doctor at once. In a matter of hours or days, the condition can worsen. If it does, its harder to treat it. Blood tests, X-rays or MRIs are required to verify the ailment. Needle aspiration may be carried out to test the sample of the affected tissues for further study and proper treatment.
How to treat Osteomyelitis?
Treatment depends on the severity of the case. Acute (recent) or chronic (prevalent for an extended period of time) require antibiotics for infection and pain relief. Sometimes, surgery is required to clean out the infected bone thoroughly by drilling a cavity into the bone, removing pus and dead tissue.
Recovery can take weeks and months. Osteomyelitis debridement can lead to poor bone healing or impaired bone that can cause multiple inflammatory cytokines.
However, now there is new hope in treating osteomyelitis debridement through the non-invasive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy that boosts the natural healing process of the body simply by inhaling pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube.
What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a non-invasive medical treatment that can enhance the natural healing processes of the body by inhaling pure 100 percent oxygen in a chamber, through a pressurized room or tube. The atmospheric pressure is increased and regulated to three times the normal air pressure to allow the lungs to fill up with more oxygen than one does in normal air pressure.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is extremely effective for treating serious infections, wounds that don’t heal completely due to diabetes or radiation and bone infections such as osteomyelitis.
The pure oxygen dissolves into the lymph, plasma, bones and central nervous system through the red blood cells that transport it to all areas. As enhanced blood circulation boosts cell regeneration, bacteria is killed, new blood vessels grow, boosting the growth of stem cells that promote healing.
Ontario HBOT Osteomyelitis
At Ontario HBOT Osteomyelitis, we provide Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy providing the highest level of safety and comfort in individual mono-place acrylic chambers provided by Perry Baromedical, a world leader in the manufacturing, installation and servicing of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Our highly trained chamber technicians are always close by through the treatment to enable two-way communication with the patient. Call us to know more.