A Hyperbaric Chamber is a hard shelled pressure vessel. The chamber is usually made of steel and aluminum with view ports (windows) made of acrylic. The chamber may also consist of one or more human entry hatches, an airlock allowing human entry, a separate chamber with two hatches, one to the outside world and one to the main chamber, which can be independently pressurized to allow patients to enter or exit the main chamber while it is still pressurized, an airlock allowing medicines, instruments and food to enter the main chamber, closed-circuit television allowing the technicians and medical staff outside the chamber to monitor the inside of the chamber, an intercom allowing two-way communications inside and outside the chamber, a carbon dioxide scrubber-consisting of a fan that passes the gas inside the chamber through a soda lime canister, a control panel outside the chamber is used to open and close valves allowing air to enter or leave the chamber and oxygen to be supplied to masks.

Traditionally it is used for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). Fundamentally, the procedure floods the body with oxygen which in turn promotes the healing process of tissue and cells for difficult to heal wounds. Oxygen is one of the most versatile and powerful agents available the modern practitioner. The therapeutic use of oxygen under pressure has been used to assist wound healing for almost 40 years. This procedure has specific biological actions which can enhance wound healing processes. Hyper-oxygenation of tissue, vasoconstriction, antibacterial effects, potency of antibiotics, and leukocyte effects are discussed in relation to wound healing problems.

Diabetes being one of the contributors to skin sores can cause nerve damage in some patients that prevent wounds or breaks in skin from responding well to traditional treatment.

Decompression sickness would be another cause that might require HBOT. A diver that ascends too quickly from a dive or does not carry out decompression stops after a long or deep dive, an unpressurized aircraft that rapidly flies upwards. These situations cause excess inert gases which have dissolved in body liquids and tissues, while the gas was being inhaled at higher pressure, to come out of physical solution as the pressure reduces and form gas bubbles within the body. The main inert gas for those who breathe air is nitrogen. The bubbles result in the symptoms of decompression sickness. Inert gases are normally stored throughout the body, such as within tissues and liquids, in physical solution. When the body is exposed to decreased pressures, such as when flying an un-pressurized aircraft to altitude or during a scuba ascent through water, the excess inert gas comes out of solution in a process called "out gassing" or "off gassing". Normally most off gassing occurs by gas exchange at the lungs during exhalation. If inert gas is forced to come out of solution too quickly, bubbles form inside the body and are unable to leave through the lungs causing the signs and symptoms of the "bends" which can be itching skin and rashes, joint pain, sensory system failure, paralysis, and death.

HBOT treatments are painless. However, may have some minor side effects including: Barotraumas (injury of the ears) and sinuses caused by pressure changes. To minimize this risk, patients learn techniques to promote adequate clearing of the ears during compression. Other side effects are more rare, but may include oxygen toxicity, claustrophobia, and accelerated maturation of cataracts. Occasionally some patients experience visual changes after several treatments that cause them to have changes in their visual acuity. This is usually only temporary and should disappear three to four months after the treatments stop. Other side effects are extremely rare. Any feeling out of the ordinary should be reported to the treating attendants immediately.

Most medical conditions are difficult to live with. However; treatments, having pro's and con's require us as patients to make a decision whether we wish to deal with the symptoms of the condition or the side effects of the treatment. That determination is up to the individual.