WHAT IS MILD HYPERBARICS?

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a painless therapy in which a person is exposed to mildly increased pressure to safely increase the body's absorption of oxygen throughout the tissues, organs, and brain.  Increasing the atmospheric pressure creates an environment where oxygen gas dissolves more easily into the surrounding liquids, such as the blood plasma and cerebrospinal fluids. This increased oxygenation allows for many health benefits, such as cell growth and regeneration, detoxification, immune support, new capillary growth, and improved neurological functioning.  Healing at a cellular level is critical for changes to be made which in turn affect healthy tissue formation, making it possible for healthier organs and ultimately a healthier body overall.

Increasing oxygen content in tissue advances the growth of new blood vessels, decreases swelling and inflammation, washes away toxins and waste, raises energy and mental clarity, and balances the body’s overall well-being.

Hyperbaric therapy is not experimental.  It has been utilized in hospitals for extreme situations since 1965.  However it has gained greater recognition, and use, in recent years since the introduction of portable, mild-pressure chambers.

Why Do We Need Oxygen?
Oxygen is a vital part of our lives and it is used for all of the body’s essential functions giving every one of us life and energy.   Physiologists sometimes remind us of the 3, 3 & 3 rule: the body survives without food for three weeks, without water for three days, but without oxygen for only three minutes. Our body needs energy and 90% of our body’s energy comes from oxygen, only 10% from food and water.  Oxygen feeds the body, supports the immune system, destroys toxic substances, and promotes new cell growth.

What are the different types of Hyperbaric Therapy?
Hyperbaric therapy is separated into two types of Hyperbaric Therapy – high pressure and low pressure. High pressure is generally referred to as high pressure HBOT, hospital grade HBOT, or just HBOT, and is designated as above 2 absolute atmospheres.  Low pressure hyperbarics refers to pressures below 2 absolute atmospheres.  There is also a very low pressure hyperbaric oxygen therapy referred to as mild hyperbarics or mHBOT. This is hyperbaric oxygen administered at 1.3 absolute atmospheres. Each type of hyperbaric oxygen therapy has its advantages and disadvantages.  The higher pressures are very useful in acute illnesses, and the lower pressures are safer, generally without major side-effects, and better for chronic illnesses.

When considering the difference between hospital grade, low pressure and mild HBOT for the treatment of neurological disorders, the Quebec/McGill study is at the forefront of comparisons.  This study was performed to test the use of low pressure HBOT(1.75 ATA) in the treatment of cerebral palsy.  The experiment was intended to be a double blind study with mild HBOT at 1.3 ATA serving as the placebo.  What they found is that the results for patients at 1.3 ATA and 1.75 were almost identical in improvement, and the patients at 1.3 ATA experienced better results with fewer side-effects in many cases (Stroller, 2004).  One of the great advantages of mHBOT is the low number of contraindications, risks and side effects. “This is one of the lowest risk procedures in all of medicine,” says Paul Harch, M.D., a leading hyperbaric medicine expert, about mHBOT.

DID YOU KNOW?

“When the oxygenated plasma circulates near dormant or injured tissue such as an encephalopathic brain, a bruised muscle, a sprained tendon, or a surgical wound, the oxygen in the plasma can and does dissolve further into the damaged area than the oxygen that’s attached to the red blood cell in that “traditional” delivery system. (Buckley, 2005).”