Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is a relatively new form of treatment based on current science and a new understanding of human biology.
Our bodies require oxygen fundamentally to do anything or to carry out any process, from eating, to breathing, to sleeping and more. Oxygen is transported from the lungs to every single part of your body via the bloodstream.
It is then converted by the mitochondria (specialised cell organs) during cellular respiration to make the energy required for every bodily function one can imagine. Mitochondria are found in just about every cell in your body, but particularly cells in the brain, liver and GIT, where the body needs the most of its energy to be.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is the complete saturation of the human body in oxygen. This is achievable by placing a person under a slight pressure inside an oxygen chamber for a sustainable amount of time. The ambient airflow is compressed until the oxygen levels are higher, making this treatment more gentle than other methods of oxygenation. The oxygenated air saturates every tissue, organ and cell in your body, leaving you feeling more relaxed, uplifted and pain free.
Here are 10 Quick Benefits of receiving Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy:
Extra Energy
The body has immediate access to oxygen to make more energy. The research is clear in showing that this actually kick starts mitochondrial function, allowing your mitochondria to correct any imbalances they may have had and begin to work more efficiently.
Improved Immune Function and Organism Destruction
Many anaerobic organisms cannot survive in oxygen and thus begin to die out once the body is exposed to it. Your body starts to use the extra energy generated in this treatment too, bolstering the immune system and flushing out these organisms.
Stress Relief
When one is stressed, the mitochondria are out of balance and start producing free radicals (free floating destructive oxygen particles). Free radicals are highly aggressive and act to damage tissues they come into contact with, creating inflammation and worse.
When saturated in oxygen, mitochondria begin to work better and reverse this process, eliminating free radicals from your system and leaving you feeling stress free!
In a clinical trial done on ex-military troops with PTSD and Post-Concussion Syndrome, HBOT was effectively shown to significantly improve symptoms after 1 month of treatment.
Enhanced Focus
Studies show that oxygen therapy has helped in many severe ADD, ADHD, Alzheimer’s Disease and Autism cases by enhancing focus. Oxygen is known to increase focus as the brain has more energy and can function more easily. Furthermore, oxygen therapy has shown to aid in a few cases of brain cell regeneration over time.
In other studies carried out on brain injured patients, HBOT has been shown to reduce neuroinflammation, which is a primary cause of lack of focus as well as brain damage.
In further studies, it was revealed that childhood oxygen deprivation has a severe impact on cognition and development, suggesting an underlying cause for lack of focus is a lack of oxygen in some cases.
Improved GIT Function
The liver and GIT have a large collection of mitochondria. It follows on naturally that oxygen therapy helps those with digestion problems, making it easier to metabolise food by supplying these areas with additional energy.
Deeper Sleep
Your body even requires oxygen to sleep deeply and rejuvenate effectively! Those with sleep disorders related to breathing problems (such as Sleep Apnea) have benefited from oxygen therapy with an improved quality of sleep.
Moreover, when one does not get sufficient oxygen, the body reverts to an ‘emergency state.’ In this state, it wakes one up continuously due to a lack of sufficient oxygen to prevent suffocation. Saturating the body with oxygen allows for deep sleep without this ominous threat hanging over your head.
Opens Up Your Air Passages
HBOT clears the sinuses which in turn helps with alleviating pressure headaches and migraines.
Reduces Lactic Acid & Muscle Pain
Oxygen aids the body in converting and removing lactic acid, which can help reduce muscle pain and stiffness. This is also the very same reason exercise reduces lactic acid build-up!
Begins To Regenerate Your Bones
In scientific studies, researchers observed that after 3hours of oxygen exposure, the bone tissue and marrow start to regenerate. This is very exciting news for those who have trouble with their bones, such as osteoporosis patients!
Improves Symptoms of Multiple Chronic Diseases
Oxygen therapy has been known to aid those with Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Cancer, ADD, ADHD, Anaemia, Autism, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure related diseases, Asthma, Pneumonia and other respiratory related diseases. All these diseases have been linked to severe mitochondrial dysfunction, whereby oxygen works to reverse this by serving to rebalance the mitochondria.
Image sources: Jones-Underhill Patent Composition Cabinet under CC 2.0 license, Pixabay(BioBarica) and Jarmo Lehtimäki