Oxygen Therapy for Accelerated Healing. Oxygen plays an essential role in the proper function of our bodies, and even though we know that we can not live without it, most people don’t realize the potential of this "nutrient."
Your brain and nervous system need two things to survive and thrive: fuel and activation. Fuel comes in the form of glucose and oxygen. You get the glucose from the food you eat BUT as you age, your ability to utilize oxygen decreases. When the treatment program calls for it, we are providing you additional oxygen to help you heal faster. As with all our clinical programs, we want to get you better as fast as possible.
Fatigue has been reported by several studies as one of the most common symptoms experienced by people worldwide.
Noted within "Boosting Your Energy" A Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publications, 2006, every breath you take converts to energy. Human cells use nutrients from food and oxygen to create adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy source that fuels cell function. If your cells receive too little oxygen, they produce less energy. If your cells need more energy, they use more oxygen. That's why your breathing rate increases when you exercise.
Unlike muscles, your brain cannot store energy. It needs a steady flow of nutrients and oxygen to function normally. Oxygen deficiency can decrease your alertness, memory and judgment.
Conditions that can reduce blood oxygen levels include:
- air pollution
- traveling to a higher elevation
- breathing stale air that has less than the normal 20-21% oxygen.
"Insufficient oxygen means insufficient biological energy that can result in anything from mild fatigue to life threatening disease. The link between insufficient oxygen and disease has now been firmly established."
Dr. W. Spencer Way, journal of the American association of physicians
What are the main benefits of using oxygen?
Studies have shown that oxygen helps:
- Stimulate brain activity
- Reduce stress
- Increase memory capacity
- Calm anxiety
- Boost concentration
- Alleviate tension headaches
- Develop stronger alertness
- Remedy irregular sleeping patterns
- Raise energy levels
- Help with cardiovascular activity
- Improve strength
- Prevent lactic acid build up
- Build endurance
- Strengthen the immune system
- Detox your blood
Oxygen is one of the body’s basic building blocks. All of the body’s major components – water, protein, carbohydrate, and fat – contain oxygen. Oxygen helps bring about certain chemical reactions within the body that result in energy production. Energy is needed for functions such as circulation, respiration, and digestion. Energy is also used to maintain a constant body temperature. A diminished supply of oxygen causes multiple symptoms, some of which are mental disturbances, shortness of breath, rapid pulse, a fall in blood pressure, cyanosis, and a blueness of the skin among other things. This results in a marked reduction in all bodily functions, a condition known as hypoxia, or under-oxygenation of the tissues.
Those procedures we currently offer and have found oxygen therapy helpful in are:
- Oxygen Therapy & Cox Disk-Traction and Spinal Decompression Therapy
- Oxygen Therapy for our Neuropathy Patients in conjunction with our "ReBuilder" Neuropathy Treatment Program
Exercise with Oxygen Therapy
Basically, the body's ability to transfer oxygen from the lungs to the cells is perhaps the most significant factor in whether you live a healthy life or not. This transfer mechanism becomes damaged with age, and then susceptibility to illness increases. However, EXERCISE WITH OXYGEN THERAPY aids the body in repairing this vital mechanism.
The scientific aspect of EXERCISE WITH OXYGEN THERAPY is a little complex, but here is a basic explanation. Oxygen comprises 20% of the atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure is 760 mm and thus the partial pressure of oxygen entering the body's lungs is about 150 mm. However, oxygen in the lungs is diluted considerably with carbon dioxide. As the environment becomes increasingly polluted, the oxygen we intake is more and more diluted by carbon dioxide leaving the body and in the atmosphere. After oxygen is diluted, its pressure is reduced to 100-110 mm. This pressure drives the oxygen from the lungs into the blood and via the arteries to the capillaries in the extremities of the body. The capillaries then release some of the oxygen to support individual cells.
Ideally, the pressure of the oxygen in the arteries will almost equal the pressure in the lungs. However, aging causes the arterial pressure to decrease to approximately 70 mm as opposed to 95 mm.
In order for the oxygen to reach the cells from the capillaries, it must dissolve into the water of the body. Unlike carbon dioxide, though, oxygen does not dissolve easily into liquid. The significance is this: Oxygen's solubility is heavily dependent on the pressure driving it.
Dr. Rowen of Second Opinion explains Oxygen is extracted in the capillaries and when the blood comes out the venous end of he capillary, the average pressure of oxygen in the veins is about 40 mm early in life and drops to 35 mm by age 70. The difference in the pressure of oxygen between the arterial and venous sides reflects how well the oxygen is delivered and consumed.
In your 30s, the amount of oxygen released to the cells is significantly higher than in your 70s: a 30 year-old will release 55 mm (95-40) while a 70 year-old will release 35 mm (70-35). That's a huge drop in the amount of pressure of oxygen your cells receive.
The problem is that when you age, the oxygen pressure falls. Thus, while the volume of oxygen may stay the same and it may appear you are getting enough, your may be oxygen deficient because there isn't enough pressure to make use of the volume of oxygen.
The breakthrough of EXERCISE WITH OXYGEN THERAPY is that it raises the arterial pressure to youthful levels; it only involves breathing high levels of oxygen while exercising. Exercise increases the circulation, creating a greater pressure to drive oxygen into the capillaries. The increase in pressure facilitates the repair of the transfer mechanism. EXERCISE WITH OXYGEN THERAPY is effective for every conceivable condition because it improves the delivery of the most essential substance in tissue life and repair.
NOTE: As of September 2016 we are no longer offering in-office oxygen assisted exercise. However, we would be happy to assist you in whatever way we can regarding the addition of oxygen therapy to your own at-home exercise regimen.