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What Really Happens in a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber?
Fountain of youth or fatuous fad, hyperbaric oxygen therapy requires a lot of nerve
No one is really prepared to spend two hours in a high-pressure oxygen tube as though you’re about to be punted into space through an air-lock. But given recent news stories claiming hyperbaric oxygen therapy can make you younger, cure inflammatory conditions, and even treat neurological disorders, a lot of people are still willing to try. I decided to see what the treatment was all about — and I learned that it isn’t for the faint of heart.
The term hyperbaric just means high pressure. Therapy involves allowing a patient to breathe 100% oxygen inside a pressurized tube to increase the amount of oxygen in blood plasma. This makes the oxygen more “bioavailable” for use in repairing tissue.
Despite the recent uptick in interest, however, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been with us since the early 20th century, originally developed to treat flu. In the 1940s, Navy divers used it to treat the “bends,” or decompression sickness, and by the 1960s, it had become a principle therapy for carbon monoxide poisoning.
The official uses of HBOT today, at facilities like Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic, range from treating bone infections and wounds to saving patients from cyanide poisoning. But with recent research suggesting it might reverse aging (and publicity from celebrities like Michael Phelps and Justin Bieber who both acknowledge using it), HBOT has become something of a trend. An expensive trend.
Some clinics charge up to $400 an hour, and insurance won’t cover casual use of the treatment. In my case, diagnosis with chronic inflammatory conditions (IBS and rosacea) meant coverage for 60 treatments. Yes, 60 of them.
One thing that is often unclear about HBOT is the sheer amount of time it takes. You are expected to come every weekday for 18 weeks, at 90 minutes per session. If you factor travel time (the clinic is 40 minutes from my home), this starts to look like a daunting commitment. Even so, I picked a morning slot, and headed off to see what all the fuss was about.
