Start with your surgeon.
If you are considering hyperbaric oxygen therapy after surgery, the first conversation belongs with the surgeon who did the procedure. Your surgeon knows the incision, the tissue involved, the anesthesia you had and the medicines you are taking. Timing and clearance for any HBOT session come from that surgeon, not from a website and not from a wellness center.
Once you have that clearance, the Suntree team in Rockledge can review your health history and explain whether a session may fit. Physicians who want to coordinate can use the physician and patient referral page.
- Is HBOT reasonable for my procedure and how I am healing?
- If so, how long should I wait after surgery before a session?
- Is there anything about my incision, drains or medicines that pressure could affect?
- Would you prefer a hospital-based program for my situation?
Write down the answers and bring them to your call with the center. Clear notes from your surgeon make the suitability review faster and safer.
Where HBOT has a recognized role.
A small number of surgery-related situations are on the list of uses the FDA has cleared for hyperbaric chambers and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society recognizes:
- Compromised skin grafts and flaps, where the transferred tissue is not getting enough oxygen.
- Selected non-healing wounds, such as certain diabetic foot ulcers. See HBOT for wound healing.
- Delayed radiation injury, including surgery planned in tissue that was treated with radiation years earlier.
- Crush injuries and necrotizing soft tissue infections, which are urgent problems handled in hospital settings.
These uses are usually directed by the surgical or wound care team, often through a hospital-based hyperbaric program with its own criteria. Suntree is not an emergency facility. If a graft or flap looks dusky, cold or is failing, call your surgeon right away.
General recovery goals are a different question.
Many people ask about HBOT after cosmetic, orthopedic or other elective procedures, hoping for less swelling, less bruising or more energy. Those goals are off-label. HBOT is not FDA-cleared for general post-procedure recovery, and results vary.
A Cochrane review of acute surgical and traumatic wounds found only four small trials, all with unclear or high risk of bias, and concluded that high-quality evidence is lacking. Researchers are studying these questions, and some studies suggest possible benefits, but no one can promise a faster recovery. You can read more on our healing and recovery page.
Timing, incisions and pressure.
Pressure changes affect the ears, sinuses and any trapped air in the body. Tell your surgeon and the Suntree team about:
- Any recent chest, lung, ear or sinus procedure, or a history of collapsed lung.
- Drains, dressings, implants or devices, and how they should be handled.
- Pain medicines, sedatives and other prescriptions you are taking now.
- Pregnancy, congestion, claustrophobia or trouble clearing your ears.
What a visit looks like at Suntree.
Your first step is a health history and suitability review. The team explains ear equalization and pressure changes, stays available throughout, and can stop a session at any point. Sessions take place in a two-seat Superhuman Chambers T2, a hard-shell chamber rated for up to 2.0 ATA; the team confirms the pressure and protocol for your sessions.
Wellness HBOT is generally self-pay. A standard 60-minute session is $200, and membership pricing is listed. Coverage depends on your plan and diagnosis, so see the insurance and treatments page and call the center to discuss payment.