Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

For Benjamin (and others)

One of the things we have planned for Benjamin (now that he is home) is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).

We purchased the Vitaeris hyperbaric oxygen chamber (affiliate link) for Benjamin in preparation for his return home (for context, see this post).

Of everything I have committed to for Benjamin's recovery, an in-home HBOT system is the most expensive (barring his ICU stay, which is on a whole different level).

What is hyperbaric oxygen and what does it do?

• Hyper- = higher than average.

• Baric = pressure.

• Oxygen = the gas you use to create energy in your mitochondria, and without which you die in a matter of minutes (see drowning, strangulation, stroke, heart attack, and more).

Here is one of the great paradoxes of our nature...

For many decades, doctors and researchers zeroed in on "oxidative stress" as the main cause of aging.

"Oxidative stress" is the stress created by the action of oxygen upon the body. This is the same process as "rust" in iron. In fact, it is iron that mediates most of the oxidative stress in the body. I've written about iron and its role in human disease extensively in the past (search past posts for more on this).

The logical conclusion for years was that adding antioxidants to the human body as supplements or medications would prolong life.

This hypothesis has fallen short of its promise over and over again, not just in human trials, but in animal and invertebrate models. Aging is far more complex than oxygen availability.

If oxygen in excess were "bad" for life, then hyperbaric oxygen would be "bad" for life.

What we find in clinical practice, however, is quite the opposite.

When we increase pressures of oxygen in the air, we increase pressures of oxygen in the body, and with this we see profound improvements clinically.

Virtually every disease we have studied with hyperbaric oxygen responds positively to it. Most diseases have not been studied, which should be no surprise. The medical establishment stands to lose massive amounts of annual revenue if the public embraces hyperbaric oxygen en masse. Currently, it's reserved for wound healing, particularly in diabetics.

Hyperbaric oxygen has been heavily studied in drowning, stroke, PTSD, and more. It is increasingly being used in these illnesses. This is why a hyperbaric oxygen tank was the first thing I bought for Benjamin.

You have two options for hyperbaric oxygen therapy:

• Buy your own tank

• Pay per session at a facility

You have two options for tanks:

• Soft-sided (less pressure, less intensity, lesser therapeutic effects)

• Hard-sided (more pressure, more intensity, greater therapeutic effects)

We bought a soft-sided tank.

Why did we purchase our own hyperbaric tank?

Hard-sided tanks tend to start around $40,000 and the shipping is pricey.

The soft-sided tank we bought is about $25,000 (as of this writing).

Benjamin doesn't know how to equalize the pressure in his ears, so a hard-sided tank (for higher pressures) doesn’t make sense.

Hard-sided tanks can fit more people, but we just need it to fit one person and an infant.

What is equalization? When pressure pressure on your ear drum, you have to "equalize" the pressure so your ear drum doesn't pop. Have you ever heard an infant scream while descending in a plane? I remember the descent into Disney Land as a child. I was five years old and had an ear infection. I thought the world was ending.

The only way to equalize an infant's ears is to have them suck on something (mom's nipple, a bottle, or a pacifier/binky). Mom needs to be in the tank anyway.

You can (mostly) make up for lower pressures by increasing the amount of time you spend in the tank. Ben has nothing better to do than hang out in the hyperbaric tank with his mother, and she is taking off work indefinitely to help him recover.

Is buying a hyperbaric tank right for you?

Maybe. I bought this tank not just for Benjamin, but for our entire family.

Here's the basic math.

• You might spend $200 per dive in someone else's tank.

• To break even on a tank costing $25,000, you would need to take 125 dives.

That's just one dive every week or so for a little over two years. Or one dive daily for just four months.

It does not take long to break even on a tank. However, you need to be consistent.

These tanks are fairly large, so even if you have the money to buy a tank, you will also need the space for it.

Hyperbaric oxygen will not be integrated into conventional care for many years at the current rate. Not enough research is being done to satisfy the academic physicians who run conventional medicine. Once the research is done, we'll see if the incentives align to actually get it integrated into care.

In my opinion, Benjamin should have been getting hyperbaric oxygen treatments from day one. You could easily create a neonatal tank specifically for this diagnosis. The cost-savings in terms of long-term disability in these children would easily justify the expense of the research and development. It's a very niche market, however, as Ben's diagnosis is just 2.4 per 1,000 live births. Most kids with this diagnosis recover faster than Benjamin has, due to the severity and duration of his lack of oxygen.

Ben will be spending a lot of time in the tank with his mother now that he is home. Your continued prayers for him are much appreciated. He still have progress to make.

Get a hyperbaric oxygen tank if you can afford it. Make the time to use it. You'll thank me later.

Until next time, be well,

Dr. Stillman