Advanced oxygen therapy to optimize health

Humans need oxygen to survive. In elementary school, we all learned that the air we breathe contains 21% oxygen.

Our bodies use oxygen to produce energy. In the blood vessels, red blood cells carry oxygen and bind it to hemoglobin. It then dissolves in the blood plasma and flows out into the body’s tissues through the arteries and capillaries.

Although we’ve known about the role oxygen plays in our health for hundreds of years, it wasn’t until 1891 that Dr. JL Corning built an ultrasound room in New York. Since then, we have continued to optimize the chambers for the best combination of air pressure and oxygen for therapeutic purposes.

What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is when a person breathes in 100% pure oxygen at increased atmospheric pressure. The pressurized chamber helps the body better absorb oxygen into the lungs and tissues.

The combination of increased oxygen levels plus increased pressure helps get more oxygen to where our bodies need it most.

Types of HBOT

There are three types of hyperbaric oxygen chambers. The first two are the medical grade that you find in hospitals and medical centers.

• Room in many places – Many patients can sit inside. Some are equipped with hoods or masks to breathe instead of immersing the whole body in oxygen therapy.
• Unit chamber – An individual can lie down or sit for healing.
• Soft shell chamber – For personal use that you can buy for your own home. You squeeze yourself into this one. The pressures don’t build up, but they still offer amazing health benefits.

We measure pressure as absolute atmosphere (ATA). Soft shell type usually goes up to 1.3-1.7 ATA, while hard shell type can go up to 5.0 ATA, but humans can only safely downgrade to 3.0 ATA.

In the wellness setting, the standard time inside is 90 minutes, plus 10 minutes at both ends to slowly increase and decrease the pressure. Take two good hours of your day.

In a medical setting, they are usually clear acrylic cavities. Home appliances are opaque white, often insulated with fabric. (I don’t mind the lack of visual stimulation!)

Do not bring anything into the chamber. You will need to remove all jewelry and electronics from your body (not that you should carry your phone in your pocket!) In healthcare settings, it is a good idea to have a TV set for the patient to watch. pretty standard thing.

Benefits of HBOT

We’re learning more about how HBOT helps the body. It:

• Increase oxygen – in all parts of the body
• Regenerates blood vessels – by increasing blood flow and enhancing blood density in the body
• Reduce swelling and inflammation – by down-regulating many inflammatory markers
• Improve lymphatic fluid flow – from increased pressure
• Stem cell stimulation – helps the body regenerate more
• Kill the infection – by starving the harmful anaerobic bacteria of the environment that they need to grow

Overall, it can help optimize your cellular and mitochondrial function.

Typically, the average course of treatment that a doctor prescribes and some insurance covers is 40 sessions. The FDA approves the use of rigid chambers for the following medical conditions:

• Depletion – combats excess nitrogen resurfacing too quickly during scuba diving
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Healing
  • Diabetic foot ulcers and diabetic wounds
  • Radiation damage
  • Burn
  • Skin infections such as gangrene
  • Skin grafts
• Osteomyelitis – bone infection that does not heal
• Sudden deafness or hearing loss
• Air and bubbles in blood vessels
• Crushing injury
• Anemia
• Loss of vision

The FDA, on the other hand, has only approved soft compartments for altitude sickness (AKA mountain sickness).

In my podcast interview with Dr. Scott Sherr on erectile dysfunction pills, he pointed out that while the FDA has only 14 approved uses for HBOT, other countries have approved more than 70.

We still have a lot to learn about how it fully works. However, doctors have continued to study hyperbaric therapy for more off-label use.

• Cancer – often used in combination with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, potentially making them more effective
• Arthritis – it can help relieve symptoms when oxidative stress and C-reactive protein levels are too high
• Ischemic – it can reduce the long-term effects of heart attack and stroke
• Fertility problems – it can improve fertility and reverse erectile dysfunction
• Chronic diseases – from chronic fatigue syndrome to Lyme disease, there are numerous use case studies for these conditions
• Traumatic brain injury
• Depression and seasonal affective disorder
• Parkinson disease
• Autism syndrome

Many athletes use it for minor injuries, claiming it speeds up the recovery process. Others use it for anti-aging. Some veterinarians offer HBOT for pets.

Because of the few side effects, many alternative doctors are willing to try HBOT for complex chronic illnesses and other health conditions that don’t respond to standard treatments.

Hyperbaric oxygen side effects and precautions

However, HBOT is not for everyone. As always, talk to your doctor about hyperbaric oxygen treatments before doing so.

You can do damage with too much good stuff like oxygen. There is such a thing as oxygen toxicity. When the amount of oxygen is too high, reactive oxygen species can be increased.

Some conditions require extra caution:

• Recent accident – if you’ve been in an accident, health care providers will need scans to make sure you don’t have a pneumothorax (an air sac inside the lung)
• Ear problems – increased ear pressure can damage the middle ear
• Lung disease
• Seizure disorder

In animal studies, too much pressure caused cataracts and can also cause sinus problems. There have been some reports of temporary vision changes, but these changes should be apparent after treatment ends. Because 98% of the bacteria in the gut microbiota are anaerobic, one should consider supplementing with a good spore-forming probiotic.

Some HBOT centers recommend taking antioxidants to help combat oxidative stress when used in high doses.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at home

It’s amazing that we can now harness the power of oxygen in the privacy of our own homes. (And spend less money while keeping the device.)

The brands I recommend are:

• Hbot Plus – They offer two soft shell options, one for sitting and one for lying down. They also have a hard shell design.
• HyperbaricPro – They have a soft shell design for lying down, for people in wheelchairs and for multiple people at once, in addition to the hard shell models.

I experienced hyperbaric oxygen with a friend who was battling Lyme Disease. Like when I dive underwater, you can feel a little pressure inside your ears and on your skin. It’s almost like you’re on an airplane that your ears pop out when you open your mouth. I like to chew gum when I’m in it to take the pressure off.

This article has been medically reviewed by Dr. Tim Jackson. He is a Doctor of Physiotherapy and Orthopedic Rehabilitation and a Provider of Functional Medicine services. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences and Chemistry from Wake Forest University. As always, this is not personal medical advice and we recommend that you speak with your doctor.

Have you tried hyperbaric oxygen therapy? Will you try it?

Source:

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