I feel it my duty to experiment every cutting-edge technology around even those I don''t understand (yet). Certain are high-tech upgrades or innovations in popular beauty tools, such as microcurrent facial devices and UV light-based blow dryers, while others sound like they''re straight out of a science fiction film.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a brand-new addition to the celebrity facialists salon menu, which involves being dipped into a pressurized oxygen chamber as if into a garment bag for 60 minutes. The concept? As you lie there and relax, read, or scroll through Instagram, your body is soaking up the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, which all comes from the pure oxygen you breathe.
I confessed to getting into one of these oxygen chambers because I am sensitive to PTSD and small spaces are one of my primary reasons. In his docuseries series, Justin Bieber talked about how HBOT helped him with sobriety. Plus, Joanna Vargas wouldnt offer it without a good reason. So I confronted my fears and climbed into the chamber, and as it turns out, I loved it.
Read on for intel about the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and how it feels to experience the therapy.
Fast Facts
What Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
In the early 1990s, the US Navy used HBOT to treat soldiers with diving-induced decompression pain. In the 1950s, HBOT was found to be capable of treating infectious diseases, including chronic wounds and illness, diabetic ulcers, and nerve trauma.
Basically, being exposed to pure, pressured oxygen has a domino effect of health benefits: delivering oxygen to lacerations and reduces inflammation, as well as increasing the production of white blood cells, according to Dr. Casey Kelley, the founder and medical director of CASE Integrative Health, who says that it works by reducing inflammation while delivering a high dose of oxygen right to the affected tissues. This also helps the body to develop collagen, which is crucial for illness or wound healing.
According to Kelley, the HBOT is increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood supply, which then triggers the body''s immune response. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a good addition to our white blood cells, while also stimulating our natural killer cells when they are looking to find and eradicate invaders.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapys Effect On The Skin
With such a long medical history, you may wonder why HBOT is offered as a salon service. I was also asked what she was, including Vargas, the founder of Joanna Vargas Salons and Skin Care, and author of Glow From Within.
Oxygen has always been one of my favorite facials, so it makes sense that we have something that is addressing the whole body, Vargas says, pointing to its ability to reduce inflammation while also increasing circulation and collagen production (quite as it would for a wound). Using this therapy in combination with other therapies has really helped the [clients] results to the next level; as oxygen therapy increases the skin, Vargas strives to maintain that the entire body receives TLC.
What HBOT Looks Like
The most common type of HBOT is performed in a monoplace chamber, which resembles a large, pressurized cylinder. The patient enters and lies down, and the chamber then slowly fills up with 100% oxygen, compared to the 20% oxygen we breathe in when we take a breath outside the chamber.
My esthetician zipped me into the cylinder at the Joanna Vargas Skin Spa, where I was laid down. Before being inflated, I like to describe them as big, cute sleeping bags.
My Experience
I was fairly skeptical (and TBH concerned) to try this therapy. However, my esthetician explained the process to me in detail, noting that I might feel my ears pop while the chamber inflated and collapsed. She then offered an iPad to use while inside, but I chose to keep my iPhone and text instead, and also provided a walkie-talkie to use in the event I had to communicate with the outside world. I assumed I would use it in less than five minutes and demand that it be removed.
After the chamber was filled up with oxygen, it takes about 15 minutes to inflate and then deflate on either end of the treatment, and I was immediately feeling satisfied. I didnt even want any kind of distraction or entertainment while inside: I ended myself with a deep breath, but when I was fully pressurized, I realized that my esthetician was deflating the chamber again.
The Results
It''s difficult to say if I experienced many physical benefits from HBOT, as it requires consistency for the best results (Kelley suggests using HBOT daily for 40 days if treating a chronic illness, for example) however, my skin improved dramatically: after getting into the chamber, I noticed a noticeable difference. I felt quite relaxed and comfortable while walking home, and the feeling continued.
The Verdict
TL;DR? The only part of the oxygen therapy therapy I didn''t like was when it ended. And when it did, I immediately walked to the front desk to schedule another session. I would highly recommend doing this.
Studies have been made refering to:
Chen, C. Y., Wu, R. W., Hsu, M. C., Hsieh, C. J., and Chou, M. C. (2017). Adjunctive Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Healing Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal of wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nurses Society, 44(6), 536545. https://doi.org/10.1097/WON.00000000000003
De Wolde, S. (2022). The Effect of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Markers of Oxidative Stress and the Immune Response in Healthy Volunteers. Front Physiol. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2022.826163
Hachmo, Y. (2021). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy''s effect on skin aging''s pathophysiology: a prospective clinical study. Aging. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8660605/
Adults with mental illness with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: A Clinical Comparison. (2014). Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for chronic wounds, according to Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2015(6), CD004123. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004123.pub4
Nazario, J., and Kuffler, D. P. (2011). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy and promoting neurological recovery following nerve trauma. Undersea & Hyperbaric Medicine, Journal of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society, 38(5), 345366.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: An Exploring the Clinical Evidence. Dermatological Review, 30(4), 181190. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ASW.0000513089.75457.22
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Pathogenesis, Management, and Future Directions of Therapy, in: https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CI
Shapira, R., Gdalyahu, A., Gottfried, I., Hadanny, A., Efrati, S., Blinder, P., and Ashery, U. (2021). Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treat vascular dysfunction and amyloid burden in an Alzheimer''s disease mouse model and in elderly patients. Aging, 13(17), 2093520961. https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.203485
Auerbach''s Wilderness Medicine, Chapter 72, 1619-1635.e5: Van Hoesen, K.
