What Role does oxygen play?
How important is oxygen
Well, there’s an old saying, “You can go three weeks without food, three days without water, but only three minutes without oxygen.” There is nothing more basic to life and yet often taken for granted. After all - we can’t see it, and it always SEEMS to be there when we need it.
Oxygen has an enormous effect on the healing process. One of the reasons why many of us have a tough time healing from injuries (old and new) is low oxygen flow to an affected area.
In order for cells to properly reproduce and travel, they must have a sufficient amount of energy. Like all functions involved in the body, they require oxygen to be able to generate energy. More oxygen translates into more cellular energy, more healing energy and more energy to help us perform better in life. Oxygen can heal and it can kill, so it’s perfect for infections of all types.
Oxygen in the Body
How Oxygen Fuels the Body
Every cell in your body requires oxygen. Every breath supplies blood with oxygen to be carried throughout your entire body.
The human body requires oxygen to make the energy that powers the brain and muscles. It turns genes on and off. It encourages waste removal. Oxygen stimulates blood vessel growth to heal wounds. If your cells become deprived of oxygen they shut down and begin to die. The bottom line — your body won’t function without oxygen.
What happens when oxygen is lacking?
When an area of the body does not receive an adequate amount of oxygen, a condition known as hypoxia, it can slow and even halt the healing process
When the cells in our body cease to get sufficient amounts of oxygen on a regular basis, they degenerate quickly and die. We need it to be readily available for all aspects of our health and well-being ALL THE TIME. Beyond any doubt, oxygen is the most essential element for our existence.
How Does Oxygen Aid in Wound Healing?
When healing wounds, it’s widely recognized that oxygen plays a role in nearly every part of the wound healing stages. In order for cells to properly reproduce and become mobile, they must have an adequate amount of energy. Oxygen is required to produce this energy. When oxygen is lacking, the wound goes into a dormant state. Without a sufficient oxygen supply, a condition known as hypoxia, can slow and even halt the healing process. This can lead to pain, disability, amputation, and/or a diminished quality of life.
How to get more oxygen
- Breathing more oxygen is not enough.
- Room air contains 21% oxygen. Enough to fill most of the oxygen binding sites on our red blood cells, carried by hemoglobin.
- Breathing even 100% oxygen.
- Fills the few remaining sites on hemoglobin. Increases blood oxygen by a small percentage. Can be lifesaving, especially if blood oxygen levels are low, but results in minimal gains when O2 levels start out normal.
- Encourage oxygen to dissolve in serum and plasma by increasing pressure of oxygen.
- Pressure is provided by a chamber with above normal pressure, called a “hyperbaric” oxygen chamber. Patient enters the chamber and pressure is slowly increased to a level appropriate for the person’s condition.
Think of oxygen as a drug and the hyperbaric chamber as a dosing device.
At sea level – hemoglobin is already 97% saturated.
So in order to get oxygen to places in your body in high concentrations, we need to find another way.
How does mild hyperbaric therapy work?
Pressure is the Key
Administering oxygen at higher pressures allows oxygen to be compressed. When this happens, the oxygen molecule becomes smaller and is able to absorb into the plasma. Since plasma is smaller than hemoglobin (how oxygen usually travels in blood), it is able to get into places it was not previously able to get to before.
Henry’s Law of Physics
Any increase in atmospheric pressure allows more gas to be dissolved in any given liquid. You can see this as evidenced in every soda can. Carbon dioxide is able to be dissolved into the soda when it is canned under pressure at the factory. This causes the soda to be carbonated. When the can is opened, the pressure is released. The soda would become flat if it weren’t for the constant pressure of keeping the gas dissolved.
What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy consists of placing a person in an enclosed chamber while raising the pressure. Often times, adding oxygen via a mask and oxygen concentrator helps increase the oxygen entering the body. This increased level of oxygen is then shrunk under the pressure of the chamber, and can now enter the body’s blood plasma, the liquid part of blood, cerebral fluid (fluid around the brain and spinal cord), lymph (), and synovial fluid (fluid around the joints).
Without this excess pressure, oxygen is not able to get into the plasma and to the depths of the body that need healing. It’s these areas of the body, that would normally be difficult for oxygen to reach, that benefit the most.
Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy raises the levels of oxygen in the body’s blood plasma. Increased oxygen in the plasma leads to higher amounts of oxygen being delivered to the body’s tissues, organs and brain.
Without Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
With Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Under pressure, additional oxygen is dissolved into the blood plasma and enters the tissues directly.
Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy promotes relaxation, stimulates the body’s healing processes, increases stamina and endurance and also helps the body to return to a state of balance and wellbeing.
For the more technically minded: Gas under pressure diffuses into a liquid. When the body is subjected to increased pressure, the fluids, tissues and cells are able to absorb much more oxygen than we would normally breathe in. (For the really technical stuff Google Henry’s law.)
What is recommended?
For head injury, forty sessions, sixty minutes each given over 10 to 12 weeks is usually a very good place to start. Some may choose to do more after they see improvements and can expect further improvements.
For chronic disease, chronic injury and infections, forty-five to sixty minutes, two to five times per week for a total of 20-40 treatments, based on individual cases and results, are what is recommended. Future treatments would be as required to maintain health and fitness.
For acute sprain strain injury, individual results will vary, but expect considerable healing within five visits. Other therapies offered at our center like natural anti-inflammatories, myofascial work and cold laser can also speed this healing process.
For pre and post-surgical recovery, a treatment or two can prepare your body to recover better. After surgery it can help decrease inflammation in tissues that causes pain and swelling. On the coasts it is widely used after cosmetic surgeries to improve results and speed healing. Dr. Anschutz would be happy to consult with your regarding your situation.
To detoxify the body and decrease inflammatory conditions it can vary based on your case. Expect a minimum of 6 treatments in two weeks to jump start your liver detox enzymes (such as superoxide dismutase) that break down inflammatory proteins in the blood.
For Cerebral Palsy, Multiple Sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, Stroke and Autism a minimum commitment of 40 sessions is required due to the time required for the body to heal. These conditions also respond well to certain dietary changes and nutritional supplements needed to rebuild the injured tissue.
In the case of congestive heart failure, the extra oxygen gives the heart an opportunity to rest and rebuild (just between beats!) and when paired with a high quality CoQ 10 supplement over the period of a couple of weeks (8-10 treatments) can improve ankle swelling and the ability to sleep at night,
How do oxygen chambers work?
- The air in the oxygen chamber is a lot different
- A higher percentage of oxygen
- A slightly higher pressure than normal
- (up to 4.2 ATA or 1.3 ATA)
- Both of these differences means more oxygen dissolves in your blood
- Usually most oxygen is carried in the red blood cells and a tiny amount in the blood plasma, the liquid part of your blood.
- In an oxygen chamber, over 50% more oxygen dissolves in the blood plasma.
- The pressure “pushing” the oxygen into your tissues increases by over 3 times.
- This means oxygen can reach, and enter all the tissues in your body more easily. This is important if disease, poor blood circulation (as in diabetes), injury or surgery is stopping red blood cells from getting easily to the damaged area.
- Oxygen is also important for immune response to diseases, recovery from hard exercise and skin rejuvenation.
How should I use my oxygen chamber?
How long should I stay in the chamber?
- A typical session takes 45-90 minutes with 60 minutes being average.
- The rate of tissue oxygenation increases most rapidly at the start of the session
- That’s why you won’t get much more benefit from a session longer than 90 minutes.
- If you’re an athlete recovering from hard training, the pressure also reduces inflammation by squeezing any excess fluid, so you could stay in a bit longer.
How often should I use the chamber?
- Tissues like bones and ligaments take many minutes to get oxygenated but also hold onto that extra oxygen for longer
- Using the chamber once per day should be sufficient.
- You can use the chamber every day if you like.
- Having a day off is fine, though after 5 days without a session some tissues might not be sufficiently oxygenated to maintain the benefits.
