Two chamber styles, two different jobs.
When people compare a hard shell vs soft hyperbaric chamber, they are often comparing two different levels of pressure and two different ways of breathing oxygen. The word hyperbaric simply means pressure above normal. How much pressure, and what you breathe, is what separates one chamber from another.
Three questions cover most of the difference: How much pressure can the chamber reach? How many people does it hold? And is oxygen delivered by mask, or does it fill the whole chamber?
What a mild soft-sided chamber is.
Soft-sided chambers are portable fabric or vinyl enclosures, usually closed with zippers. They commonly reach about 1.3 ATA, which is modest pressure. Portable chambers of this type are FDA-cleared for mild acute mountain sickness (altitude sickness) only.
Many soft chambers are filled with air, sometimes with added oxygen from a concentrator, so the oxygen you breathe is well below 100%. The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) describes this kind of mild hyperbaric treatment as outside the indications it recognizes and raises safety concerns about it.
What a hard-shell chamber is.
Hard-shell chambers have rigid walls built to hold higher pressures. They are the type used in hospital hyperbaric programs and in many outpatient centers. Rigid construction also allows features like fixed seating, windows, and control panels inside and outside the chamber.
A hard shell does not by itself tell you what pressure a center uses or why. The pressure and protocol for a session should be set for the person and the purpose, after a health review. Chamber type also affects price, which our HBOT cost guide covers.
Monoplace and multiplace chambers.
Chambers are also grouped by how many people they hold.
- Monoplace: one person, often lying down in a clear tube. Many monoplace chambers are pressurized with 100% oxygen, so you breathe the chamber air without a mask.
- Multiplace: room for several people, common in hospitals. The chamber is pressurized with air, and each person breathes oxygen by mask or hood. Staff may be inside.
- Small multi-seat chambers: seated chambers for two or a few people, usually pressurized with air, with oxygen delivered by mask.
Oxygen by mask or oxygen in the whole chamber.
In a whole-chamber oxygen design, the entire space fills with oxygen. That makes fire safety rules very strict about what can go inside, including clothing, devices and some personal products.
With mask delivery, the chamber holds pressurized air and you breathe oxygen through a fitted mask. The fit of the mask matters, which is why the team helps you with it before the session begins.
The chamber at Suntree in Rockledge.
Suntree uses a two-seat Superhuman Chambers T2. It is a hard-shell chamber with two reclining seats, oxygen delivered by breathing mask, and touchscreen controls inside and outside the chamber. The manufacturer rates the T2 for up to 2.0 ATA. The team confirms the pressure and protocol for your sessions.
You can see the treatment room, the chamber entrance and the mask setup on our HBOT page. Before a first session, the team reviews your health history and explains ear equalization and pressure changes. Our first-visit guide lists questions worth asking, and you can request an appointment online.
What the FDA says.
The FDA has cleared hyperbaric chambers for a specific list of uses and has published a consumer caution about HBOT claims for conditions outside that list. Carbon monoxide poisoning, decompression sickness and gas embolism are hospital emergencies. Call 911. Suntree is not an emergency facility.