OxyGeneration offers simple, painless and non-invasive Hyperbaric Oxygenation Therapy.
In everyday life, the air we breathe is made up of 21% oxygen and for those of us living in Galway, we’re at sea level which means normal air pressure. Hyperbaric oxygenation occurs when a person breathes nearly 100% oxygen at an increased air pressure.
The pressure increases the amount of oxygen your blood can carry compared to normal air pressure. We need oxygen to function and when tissue is injured, it requires even more of it to survive. Having an increased amount of oxygen in our blood, enables the oxygen to be dissolved even into the hard-to-reach plasma, lymph, and cerebrospinal fluids surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
In order to establish Hyperbaric Oxygenation conditions, special chambers have been designed with the technology to safely create the required environment.
At OxyGeneration, we have a state-of-the art purpose built multi-person chamber which safely creates this pressurised environment and through the oxygen delivery system, clients breathe in nearly 100% oxygen during a session.
What to expect?
*Please note, procedures may vary depending on current Covid restrictions in place. Team members will clearly outline requirements at time of booking.*
New clients are requested to arrive 45 minutes before the start of their first scheduled session. This is to get them fitted with an oxygenation mask, shown how to use it and familiarise them with the clinic, chamber and equalising techniques your ears. All other clients are required to be at the clinic 15 minutes before hand in order to start the sessions on time.
While the pressure of HBOT is below sea level, your experience is a bit like getting a flight. When you arrive, you need to check in at reception. Then you can relax in our lounge area, use the facilities (including disabled), get your oxygenation mask ready and put personal items into the lockers. When it’s time, one of our team members will ask that everyone enters the chamber and takes a seat. They will run through safety procedures then leave the chamber to monitor and control everything from outside.
As people settle in, have a chat or read their book the chamber is pressurised to the required level. This process takes approx. 10 minutes, and like on a plane, you may notice the change in pressure in your ears. For most people a yawn or wiggle of their jaw works to equalise their ears.
Once the pressure is reached, an announcement is made on the intercom advising clients to put on their individual oxygenation mask, which you connect to the delivery system behind your seat. (You can breathe in normal air without a mask at all times during the session, however, it’s the mask that delivers the oxygen required for hyperbaric oxygenation therapy.) The chamber will stay at the required pressure for an hour.
After this period, another announcement will be made informing clients that the chamber will commence depressurisation back to normal, which takes 10 minutes or so. This change in pressure causes the temperature in the chamber to fall a few degrees, so we recommend having a jumper or extra layer if chilly! Once the chamber is completely depressurised, the doors are opened and clients can exit the chamber.
From start to finish clients will be in the chamber for approximately 80 minutes during which they may read, relax, watch the installed television screen or otherwise occupy themselves.
Please note, if you have booked custom sessions for your sports team, medical research group, or a child the above may vary depending on the extent of customisation.
The history of HBOT
The first documented use of Hyperbaric Therapy was in 1662 and the full history can be read here.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy came to prominence in modern medicine as a treatment for decompression sickness and wound healing. It was used widely during World War II to treat military deep-sea divers and other injured military personnel. The US military continued to research the topic after the end of World War II and knowledge of the treatment increased. It has been used since the 1950s and early 1960s for carbon monoxide poisoning, to treat anaerobic infections (1), and for patients undergoing radiotherapy (2). Over the years research has continued and HBOT has been shown to benefit a wide and growing range of conditions. Today, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is used by hospitals and clinics worldwide as an antibiotic and adjuvant therapy to heal conditions from thermal burns to infections and non-healing wounds to emergency conditions such as decompression illness and carbon monoxide poisoning all over the world.
- Brummelkamp WH, Hogenijk J, Boerema I. Treatment of anaerobic infections (clostridial myostitis) by drenching the tissue with oxygen under high atmospheric pressure. Surgery 1961; 49:299–302.
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Churchill-Davidson I, Sanger C, Thomlinson RH. High pressure oxygen and radiotherapy. Lancet 1955; 1:1091–5.