In this interview, Dr. Jason Sonners discusses hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), which is a tremendously beneficial and widely underutilized therapy. Sonners, a chiropractor, also has a degree in applied kinesiology,1 and has worked with HBOT for over 12 years. Even if you're not trying to treat a specific condition and are generally healthy, HBOT can have significant benefits for longevity.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy BasicsMost healthy individuals have somewhere between 96% and 98% oxygen in their hemoglobin, which means your capacity to increase your oxygen level is between 2% and 4%, were you to breathe medical-grade oxygen, for example. That's it; there's no way to raise your oxygen level beyond that. The exception is if your body is under pressure.
Your Body Needs All the Oxygen It Can GetSonners, who has a lot of experience with functional medicine and nutrition, views oxygen primarily as a nutrient.
Conditions That Can Benefit From HBOTConsidering the importance of oxygen, there's a long list of conditions for which HBOT is recommended. Insurance will pay for some, but not anywhere near all of them. While HBOT can be used to help speed healing of any inflammatory condition, in the U.S., there are only 14 conditions for which insurance will pay, whereas there are up to 100 approved indications for HBOT internationally.
From my perspective, it's medically reprehensible and inexcusable for a doctor to not treat patients with diabetic neuropathy, infections in the distal extremities or peripheral vascular disease with HBOT, as it will in most cases prevent the need for amputation. That the U.S. limits the use of HBOT to a last resort for only a few hard-to-treat conditions is truly unfortunate, as there's a wide range of other conditions for which HBOT can be beneficial. This includes:
HBOT Improves Mitochondrial Function"If the idea is that we need to control inflammation, if we need to improve the rate of healing, if we need to improve mitochondrial function — all of these are going to be very solid indications of people who would respond very positively to hyperbaric treatment," Sonners says. One of the reasons I'm fascinated by HBOT is because of its ability to improve mitochondrial function. As noted by Sonners, longer term hyperbaric exposures will result in larger mitochondria and a greater density of mitochondria.
HBOT Boosts Stem Cell ProductionHBOT also activates stem cell production. Conventional stem cell therapy can cost $10,000 to $20,000 and isn't covered by insurance. HBOT costs far less, may be covered by insurance (depending on your condition), is completely safe and has a whole host of other beneficial effects as well. Even if you decide to get stem cell therapy, using HBOT before and after can significantly improve your end results, as the hyperbaric oxygen will help optimize your internal environment to make it more conducive to the newly injected stem cells. Sonners suggests 10 to 20 hours of HBOT before your stem cell treatment, as that's when your body will start upregulating its own stem cells. If you're extracting the stem cells from your own body, you will now also have much higher amounts. After the stem cell injection, Sonners suggests doing 20 to 40 hours of HBOT to make sure the new stem cells will thrive. Difference Between HBOT and EWOTOn a side note, there's a similar therapy that many people confuse with HBOT. EWOT is an acronym for "exercise with oxygen therapy," which usually involves using an oxygen concentrator and a large oxygen-filled bag that you then breathe from while exercising. While EWOT certainly has its benefits, it's not interchangeable with HBOT. They're really very distinct therapies and accomplish different things. For starters, while EWOT is an active process, hyperbaric oxygen is a passive process. With hyperbaric oxygen, you're typically sitting or lying down and simply breathing normally. "Especially in some patient populations, you can't even express the level of exercise you would need to in order to gain some of those benefits. That's one difference," Sonners says. The primary difference, however, is that with EWOT, you're basically increasing demand through exercise, and then you're increasing supply through the oxygen concentrator. However, you're still relying on your red blood cell oxygen-carrying capacity.
So, to recap, your red blood cells (if you are healthy) are typically already saturated with oxygen at 98% to 99%, and breathing pure oxygen at normal pressures will not significantly change that. But if you breathe oxygen under pressure, it will diffuse into your cellular fluids and provide a greater delivery of oxygen to your tissues, especially if they have compromised microcirculation. Soft Versus Hard Shell ChambersThere are two primary types of HBOT chambers: hard shell and soft shell. Hard-shell versions are available in two types — the kind you find in hospitals and the kind you typically find in private clinics or can purchase for home use. • Hard shell 100% oxygen hospital chambers are capable of the highest pressures, which in some cases can be important, especially in cases of nonhealing wounds. In this kind of chamber, the pressurization is done with 100% oxygen. While oxygen is not really flammable, it's an accelerant, so you have to be very careful not to create sparks. You're wearing cotton scrubs and you can't bring anything inside the chamber. • Hard chambers are the next step down. Instead of filling the whole hard chamber with oxygen, air is used to create pressure, and then oxygen is being piped in separately for you to breathe. In this type of chamber, you can wear whatever clothing you want as you don't have the same safety concerns. You can even bring certain electronics into the chamber. In many situations, this is an ideal choice, as the safety is higher while the effectiveness of the treatment is identical, especially for most internal issues. These types of chambers are often found in private clinics. • Soft chambers are limited in terms of the pressure you can achieve. "In the U.S., you're only allowed to go to 1.3 atmospheres (ATA), which is about a relative 9 feet underwater. It's considered mild HBOT. It's about 4 to 4.25 pounds of force per square inch (psi)," Sonners says. Still, it will allow you to absorb quite a bit more oxygen than you could normally, so it still offers very meaningful benefits. You may need to use it more frequently, and for longer duration though. While treatments involving hard shell chambers with 100% oxygen are quite costly, typically running around $2,000 per treatment (which may or may not be covered by insurance), hard and soft chambers found in private clinics are much more affordable, typically ranging between $90 to $180 per session. While this may still sound like a lot, it could well turn out to be one of your less expensive options in the long run.
HBOT Treatment SuggestionsTypically, you'd want to start out getting about 10 hours of treatment at a local facility to see if and how your condition responds. If you're trying to address trauma, an injury or a condition that has a beginning and end, then whatever benefits you get from the therapy, you will keep as you heal. Progressive and degenerative conditions, on the other hand, and/or if you're using it for longevity purposes, treatment will need to be ongoing for long periods of time. This is a case in which you may want to consider buying your own chamber.
Unfortunately, it can be tricky finding a local HBOT facility. Usually, online search results tend to focus on hospitals, and hospitals will not provide you with HBOT unless you have one of the 14 approved indications.
One alternative is to contact either the International Hyperbaric Association2 (IHA) or Hyperbaric Medical International3 (HMI). These are the two organizations focused on educating the public on the use of HBOT in the U.S., especially for indications that aren't FDA-approved.
If you're in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, you can visit one of Sonner's clinics — New Jersey HBOT Center, or HBOT PA. You can also learn more on HBOTusa.com, which is Sonner's primary education website. There you can find a list of treated conditions, research, the benefits of HBOT in athletics, testimonials and much more. Sonners has also written a book, "Under Pressure: How One Unexpected Tool Is Revolutionizing Health," which you can preorder here. >>>>> Click Here <<<<< from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/11/24/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-benefits.aspx
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