A brief history of hyperbaric medicine

2 min read

Hyperbaric therapy is older than you might think, and its history is a good lesson in the difference between enthusiasm and evidence.

1662: the first chamber

A British physician named Nathaniel Henshaw built a sealed room called a "domicilium," whose air pressure could be raised or lowered with bellows. He believed it helped a range of ailments. Oxygen hadn't even been discovered yet.

1800s: compressed air goes mainstream

In the 19th century, "compressed air baths" became fashionable in Europe, promoted for everything from lung disease to nerves. Meanwhile, engineers building bridges and tunnels used pressurized caissons, and workers began suffering a mysterious illness when they returned to the surface: "caisson disease," which we now call decompression sickness.

In 1878, French physiologist Paul Bert showed that the illness was caused by nitrogen bubbles and that slow decompression could prevent it. He also discovered that oxygen at high pressure could be toxic to the nervous system, a finding still central to hyperbaric safety.

1920s: the steel ball hospital

In the US, Dr. Orval Cunningham built a giant hyperbaric "hospital" in Cleveland, a five-story steel sphere, and claimed it treated diseases from diabetes to cancer. The claims lacked evidence, the medical establishment pushed back, and the sphere was scrapped. It's an early example of the hype that has dogged the field ever since.

1950s–60s: science catches up

Dutch surgeon Ite Boerema is often called the father of modern hyperbaric medicine. In 1960 he published an experiment, often summarized as "life without blood," showing that animals could survive with almost no red blood cells when breathing oxygen at high pressure, because enough oxygen dissolved directly into their plasma. Hospitals began building chambers for surgery, gas gangrene and carbon monoxide poisoning.

Today

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, founded in 1967, now reviews the evidence and maintains the list of recognized medical uses. Hospitals use HBOT for wounds, radiation injuries, diving accidents and poisonings, and wellness centers offer lower-pressure sessions to the public.

The lesson

Hyperbaric medicine has always had two strands: careful science and overblown promises. The careful science gave us treatments that save limbs and lives. It's worth keeping that standard in mind whenever you hear a new claim. See HBOT for wellness: separating hype from evidence.