Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)

HBOT is an extraordinarily powerful regenerative tool. It not only gives your body a chance to self-heal, but promotes a much faster rate of healing.

As self-healing mechanisms tend to be consistent throughout the body, the benefits of HBOT can be far-reaching.

Acute conditions include:

• Sports injuries.
• Surgery recovery.
• Burns and scalds.

Chronic conditions include:

• Non-healing wounds: e.g. diabetic foot ulcers.
• Radiotherapy tissue damage.
• Chronic osteomyelitis: Stubborn, hard-to-treat bone infections.
• Fibromyalgia and migraines.
• Long COVID, ME, glandular fever and CFS.
• Post-stroke recovery, Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) and PTSD.
• Rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, lupus, and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD).
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
• Effects of Cancer Treatment.

For healthy longevity, reverse ageing programmes and personal wellness:

• Delaying and helping prevent the onset of age-related conditions.
• Reversing age-related cognitive, memory and attention decline.
• Increasing athletic performance and decreasing recovery time.

Emergency conditions such as gas gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning, cyanide poisoning, air embolism and of course decompression illness are also handled by HBOT.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a medical treatment during which patients breathe pure oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. This increases the oxygen concentration in the blood (more specifically oxygen concentration in the blood plasma - the liquid part of the blood), allowing more oxygen to reach the body's tissues, particularly those suffering from poor blood supply as is often the case with inflammation.

At Arden Forest Wellness, as standard, we offer 'Intermittent HBOT'. This is a protocol in which the oxygen concentration is changed several times during the session. For most conditions, this is proven to significantly increase the efficacy of HBOT.

Note: If at any time you wish to end the session, just let us know via the intercom and we will immediately start the depressurisation process.

We recommend a ten-minute red light therapy session immediately prior to HBOT in order to really maximise the benefit.

If it is your first session, in the privacy of our consultation room we will discuss your goals and conduct a full clinical assessment. The assessment will include your completion of:

• Health Questionnaire
• Informed Consent

From which we will determine the most appropriate protocol for you. Protocols include:

• The session length.
• The maximum air pressure we will use.
• The rate of pressurisation and depressurisation.
• Whether 100% oxygen via a mask would be beneficial for you.
• Whether or not intermittent HBOT (alternating between normal air and 100% oxygen several times during the session) would be beneficial.

During this assessment we well take readings of your blood pressure, oxygen saturation level and temperature in order to ensure that you are well enough to partake in HBOT.

If it is not your first session, we will take new readings of your blood pressure, oxygen saturation level and temperature and ask you if anything has changed since we last saw you.

After you have stored your belongings in the lockers, we will show you to the HBOT chamber at which point you can remove your shoes and take a seat inside. You will then be shown how to use the intercom system that you will use to communicate with us, how to use the oxygen mask and, of course, how to use the entertainments system.

When you are comfortable, the door will be closed, and the pressurisation will commence. This will take around 20 minutes during which your ears may feel as if you are on board an aircraft as it descends.

When the chamber has reached the working pressure and if your protocol requires either 100% oxygen or is intermittent HBOT, we will prompt you to put on the mask. Oxygen will start flowing automatically and will follow your normal breathing pattern; so you just need to breathe normally. If at any time you wish to remove the mask, you may do so.

About 15 minutes before the end of your session, the pressure inside the chamber will start to decease during which your ears may feel as if you are on board an aircraft as it ascends. At this time if you are wearing the oxygen mask, we will prompt you to remove it.

When the pressure inside the chamber has equalised with the pressure outside, we will open the door and your session is over.

As HBOT tends to make you feel tired (it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system: the rest-and-digest response), after your session we will recommend that you spend at least 30-minutes in the guests' lounge partaking in light refreshments and relaxing before you leave.

The only things that you need to do are:

• Please wear clean, all cotton clothing and a good pair of cotton socks.
• Please do not eat or consume fizzy drinks within two hours of your session.

HBOT is very safe, but it is a medical treatment and therefore there are a few risks. We thoroughly go through these with you before your session.

If you have any of the following conditions, we will not normally be able to provide HBOT:

• Untreated collapsed lung.
• Emphysema or chronic bronchitis.
• A cold, flu, sinusitis, tonsillitis etc.
• Active aerobic bacterial infections such as: E-Coli, etc.
• Any high fever - above 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit).
• Uncontrolled high blood pressure (over 150/90 as a guide).
• Recent eye, ear or thoracic surgery.
• Uncontrolled seizures.
• Uncontrolled/overcontrolled diabetes.
• Extreme claustrophobia.
• Certain chemotherapy drugs e.g. Doxorubicin, bleomycin/Blenoxane.
• If pregnant (just as a precaution).

A more comprehensive set of contraindications will be provided during your initial clinical assessment.

How about a quick nerd-out session?

HBOT - How it works - Click Me!