Soft Tissue Radiation Injury
For those who suffer from soft tissue radiation injury, oxygen is the key to healing.
What is soft tissue radiation injury?
Radiation, while effective in the treatment of cancerous tumor cells, is not selective in the tissue it targets. In other words, while effectively destroying cancerous tumor cells, radiation can also cause damage to healthy tissue. This damage can occur anywhere between 2 weeks to 20 years after treatment. More often than not, there are no symptoms of radiation injury for at least 5 years.
What are the symptoms of soft tissue radiation injury?
The symptoms of radiation injury are usually not as visible as typical chronic wounds. This is because soft tissue radiation damage often begins in the tissue or bone. Symptoms of radiation injury can be harder to detect. Your doctor must first rule out other possible causes of these symptoms, because they could be an indication of a different health problem. Depending on the location of the previous radiation therapy, these symptoms could include:
- presence of blood in urine
- rectal bleeding
- vaginal discharge
- pain
Why is oxygen the key to healing?
Until recently, there has been no satisfactory treatment for radiation damage. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy fills this long-standing need. Radiation damage causes a lack of oxygen in the body's tissues. Hyperbaric oxygen helps fight this damage by increasing the amount of oxygen within the tissues, which aids in recovery. Like any therapy, Hyperbaric Oxygen is not a cure-all; however, approximately 60 to 80 percent of patients will experience either improvement or complete resolution of soft tissue radiation injury.
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