Mild-Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

mHBOT stands for mild hyperbaric oxygen treatment- This is a version of HBOT with relatively low pressures. In mHBOT, you experience 1.3 atm of pressure, a 30% increase from what you experience on a daily basis. This pressure is approved by the FDA for soft-sided chambers and results in a completely safe increase in oxygen levels in your tissues. Studies have shown that after just one hour in the mHBOT chamber, there was a 50% increase in plasma oxygenation! mHBOT safely increases your oxygen levels without the need for incredibly high pressures that would only be present in hospital settings.

The Physics Involved

There are three main gas laws from physics that play a key role in HBOT. These are Boyle’s Law, Charles’ Law, and Henry’s Law. Essentially, these state that if you increase the pressure of a system, the volume will decrease; Imagine you’re pushing on a squishy ball- as you push harder, it will get smaller! If the volume doesn’t change, the temperature will. The last law states that if you have higher pressure but both the temperature and the volume don’t, more of the gas will dissolve in the liquid you’re pushing it into! Basically, this means that in the HBOT, under that higher pressure, the oxygen will be pushed into your blood and muscles, resulting in higher oxygen levels in your body.

Benefits of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Reduces Tissue Hypoxia

Tissue hypoxia essentially just means there isn’t enough oxygen in the tissues of your body. Your cells can’t work without enough oxygen, so it makes sense that if you give them more oxygen, they’ll be able to do their jobs better! With more oxygen, our cells can heal your tissues not only faster, but more effectively. If your cells are constantly in an environment without enough oxygen, they eventually die. Low oxygen levels are associated with most major health challenges and life threatening diseases, including stroke, heart attack, cancer, diabetes, and more. Giving your body more oxygen helps it prevent and treat these diseases!

Anti-Infectious

Oxygen actually has the ability to destroy harmful bacteria and viruses! On top of that, it makes your white blood cells more effective at defending your body from these harmful substances. 

Typical Application

Generally, mHBOT is best in 60 minute sessions once or twice a day, 5 days a week. This is indicated by trials having results with about 40 hours of therapy in 30 days.

Is It Safe?

HBOT is completely safe, especially at the low pressures used in mHBOT! Adverse reactions are rare, and when they are seen, are generally seen in the higher pressures and dosages used in hospital settings because of a patient’s life-threatening condition. At lower pressures, the safety records are impeccable.