HYPERBARIC Oxygen therapy (HBOT) has been around for more than 100 years. First introduced to treat decompression illness caused by deep sea diving, today people are turning to HBOT to treat wounds, sports injury, inflammation, circulation issues and disease.
In a bid to learn more about how HBOT works, The Clare Echo visited OxyGeneration on Merchant’s Road in Galway City. The treatment involves sitting in a compressed chamber for 80 minutes, where 2 ATA of pressure are generated while you breathe almost 100 per cent oxygen through your own dedicated oxygen mask.
It’s the combination of this increased levels of atmosphere and oxygen which helps to heal deep tissue wounds and treat a wide range of ailments and diseases from multiple sclerosis to brain injuries, while an increasing number of sportspeople from professional rugby to the world of GAA turn to HBOT.
OxyGeneration has been in existence for five years. Co-founder Brian Lynch, wanted to provide a state-of-the-art hyperbaric oxygen service in the West after seeing and using its benefits first-hand.
“I was injured in a hunting accident in 2015, I was almost killed,” Brian tells The Clare Echo, who broke his pelvis among other injuries after getting stuck under a fallen mare. “I was brought by helicopter to hospital and had surgery in casualty. Six months later I used the chamber in Dublin to heal the terrible wounds, the trauma of the injury.”
The hyperbaric chamber in Galway can accommodate 14 people per session. On The Clare Echo’s visit to the booked-out session last week, we were welcomed by the professional team and took advantage of the positive atmosphere by speaking to some people undergoing HBOT to learn about how it has impacted their lives.
Gerry McNamara from Scariff was referred to OxyGeneration by his plastic surgeon Barry O’Sullivan, after undergoing an ankle operation which led to complications of the wounds. “The surgery went perfect but the wound broke down so it ended up that it got infected with several things because the blood supply to the ankle isn’t good and there’s no muscle around it.
“After all the skin repairs, Mr O’Sullivan thought it would be a very good idea to have this pure oxygen.” Gerry is scheduled for 40 sessions of HBOT covered by ILH insurance and on his fourth day of treatment, he admits, “The colour seems to be getting better, and I feel good anyway.”
LONG COVID
John Gilleran, from Roscommon, told The Clare Echo that he uses the hyperbaric chamber twice a week to treat symptoms brought on by long Covid. “Even after one week, I noticed great improvement. We believe it’s long Covid. I’ve gone to four doctors and nobody can tell me it’s not long Covid. I suffer with chronic fatigue, burning eyes, difficulty sleeping, stuff like that.
“Even after the first session here, my wife said to me that I’m breathing better at night, I’d have been fighting for breathe she had noticed, and I would wake up with the burning sensation at 3 in the morning. It hasn’t happened since I started using this.”
Professor Jack Lambert, UCD School of Medicine, is an advocate of using HBOT to treat sufferers of long Covid.
“Very few treatments are available for long Covid, a condition that is thought to represent brain inflammation, hypoperfusion of the brain due to microclots, and certain autoimmune processes that are ongoing post COVID-19 infection.
“Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown in a number of similar neurological conditions to provide benefits to patients. Preliminary peer reviewed studies have been published showing the benefit of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Long Covid patients. Personal observations by myself on patients who have used HBOT who have suffered from LC have shown benefit from this therapy.”
ARTHRITIS & OTHER CONDITIONS
Kate from Knocknacara tells The Clare Echo this is her ninth session of HBOT. “When I started here from Day 1 I had relief from the pain of arthritis in my hand and my knee. I suffer with fibromyalgia which is the main reason I came.
“When I checked in I didn’t even mention the arthritis in my knee or my hand because I wasn’t even thinking about it but the first time I stood up off that chair I had no pain. I haven’t been here for 10 days and I could feel that the arthritis was giving me a bit of bother so I was hoping that when I came today that I would have the same relief as i had the first day, and I can wholeheartedly say that I have. So it’s good for me, it works for me.
“If I continue to have the relief that I have I will definitely continue to do the sessions. I firmly believe in it now.”
Another person in the chamber was Adrian Gordon, from near Loughrea. “I have a rare condition of the spine. It escalated, all the discs are dying in my back and I have severe nerve damage done. It was after that I found out about OxyGeneration and I’ve been coming since.”
36-year old Adrian currently attends HBOT seven times a week and he admits that it has improved his quality of life. “The second day I came, I noticed my head was a lot clearer, I was getting more energy afterwards. I do start to feel I have more movement in my legs. I’ve noticed an awful difference and I do have a lot of respect for it. I have sleep apnea and it seems to have helped that too.
“I still suffer with chronic pain but it has made the day-to-day more bearable.”
Gina, from Castlebar suffers with childhood bronchitis and Emphysema. She says that she’s been surprised by how quickly she’s noticed results. “My chest seems to be improving. I didn’t think I’d get a result as quick but I’m surprised, I’m able to walk that little bit further and I’m finding a little bit better quality. I’m only here since Monday and genuinely I’m surprised and delighted. Just to walk from here down the road a couple of hundred yards, I’d always find a little bit of tightness, but even coming across from the carpark this morning there’s no tightness.
“I’ve been in here twice a day since Monday. Loving it. And it helps my tennis elbow. I had awful pain driving, normally I can feel it and now it’s gone. It’s great.”
SPORTS PERFORMANCE
OxyGeneration founder Brian Lynch says that an increasing number of sports people are using the Chamber to help with recovery, and when asked about its benefits versus a cold chamber, he explains, “The cold chamber is great in their own way, it causes more oxygen to come to the tissue. But it doesn’t dissolve any more oxygen in the blood, it doesn’t get into the cells that are injured. The pressure is the trick here.”
“More and more athletes are using oxygenation to ensure that an athlete performs at their peak. Increased circulation and oxygenation of the blood can lead to improved physical performance, while the added oxygen levels in tissues and cells also provide more energy, significantly reducing post-performance fatigue,” he added.
While this writer is no athlete, a mild case of tennis elbow does seem to have improved since my time in the chamber.
Irish Life Health insurance members are able to claim on their health insurance policy for sessions of Hyperbaric Oxygenation for conditions such as arterial insufficiency; to prevent amputation; compromised skin grafts and flaps; radiation necrosis, myoradionecrosis, osteoradionecrosis and other soft tissue radiation necrosis; chronic refractory osteomyelitis; and thermal burns including second-and third-degree burns.
For more details, see www.OxyGeneration.com or contact 091 394444 for information.
