The human body is a massive devourer of oxygen. We rely on oxygen for life of course. Before oxygen, there was no life! Without oxygen we do not last many minutes before damage occurs, followed by fatality unless we take another breath. Humans consume roughly 6 lbs of oxygen per day. This gross consumption far outweighs any other nutrient demands made by the body.
The primary purpose of oxygen within the body is to generate energy. The fats and carbohydrates we consume only generate around 50% of the energy we need. In order to enable our bodies to make stored energy accessible for consumption, our cells have to convert this stored energy into ATP (the body’s recuperative energy currency) through its use of oxygen.
The chemistry law 'Henry's Law' states that fluid absorbs more gas under pressure. Therefore, in a hyperbaric chamber we greatly increase the partial pressure of oxygen, which encourages the vital gas to dissolve into the body’s plasma and other waterborne bodily fluids. Dissolved water and gases are able to cross the semi-permeable cell membrane walls through osmosis and diffusion.
Every cell in the body is bathed in fluid. The body is roughly 70% water, so we can use the hyperbaric chamber to deliver oxygen under pressure to every tissue in the body. This is so even to areas where the blood vessels are blocked, such as in the case of diabetes, trauma, or surgical intervention. Our bodies then convert the oxygen to healing and rejuvenating currency.
There is no need to get undressed for this therapy – you simply comfortably lie there and the body does the work!
“You get oxygenation, decreased swelling and decreased inflammation all in one treatment. If a drug did this a pharmaceutical company would make quite a bit of money.”
- Dr D. A. Rossignol MD and hyperbaric specialist/Medical Veritas 2006
Hyperbaric oxygen is a cumulative treatment, which means that you will need a number of sessions, all within a reasonable period of time. The regularity will be discussed in the light of your condition, but you do need to take at least 10 hours of oxygen before you begin to really feel the true benefit where a truly debilitating condition is concerned, because by 10 hours many new blood vessels will form in the oxygen deprived areas. We discuss your progress at every visit.
By 20 to 30 hours of oxygen saturation the restoration can become permanent. We generally suggest that you spend at least one hour in the oxygen tent per session, but longer sessions mean that you will experience the recovery more quickly and economically. For lesser issues, such as a pulled muscle, it may be that a much shorter treatment will suffice.
For hyperbaric treatment you do not need to remove anything but your shoes, although we do strongly recommend loose, comfortable casual attire. You can listen to music, talk on your mobile, use your iPad, read or just enjoy the chance to sleep in the tent, which means that you should be able to take a nice long session with ease. Our clients all comment on how they find the chamber deeply relaxing and associate it with positive progress.