Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy & Longevity Benefits

Did you know breathing oxygen through hyperbaric therapy can help extend your life?

‘“What?” you might be thinking, “I already breathe oxygen.” 

You do, and you also don’t. The air we breathe is actually made up of different gases, oxygen only accounting for 21% of what we breathe – the rest being other gases such as carbon dioxide, neon, and hydrogen. 

However, by breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized environment, also known as hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), you can achieve physical and mental benefits and also increase your longevity (not just preserve it). 

Read more to discover how to lengthen your life through hyperbaric oxygen therapy. 

What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy? 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing 100% oxygen inside a hyperbaric chamber. This chamber set to a higher air pressure than normal, in order to help a person’s lungs take in more oxygen. 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy was originally used for divers who experienced severe decompression sickness, known as "the bends." The first US hyperbaric chamber was built by Dr. J. Leonard Corning in 1891. 

However, the applications of hyperbaric oxygen therapy have increased in the last century. The current Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved conditions to be treated with hyperbaric oxygen therapy are:

• Air and gas bubbles in blood vessels
• Anemia (severe anemia when blood transfusions cannot be used)
• Burns (severe and large burns treated at a specialized burn center)
• Carbon monoxide poisoning
• Crush injury
• Decompression sickness (diving risk)
• Gas gangrene
• Hearing loss (complete hearing loss that occurs suddenly and without any known cause)
• Infection of the skin and bone (severe)
• Radiation injury
• Skin graft flap at risk of tissue death
• Vision loss (when sudden and painless in one eye due to blockage of blood flow)
• Wounds (non-healing, diabetic foot ulcers)

However, due to pure oxygen’s ability to provide the body with the optimal environment to heal, there are many off-label conditions that people choose to use hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat:

• Anoxic Brain Injury
• Arthritis
• Cancer (Treatment Synergy)
• Cerebral Palsy
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Chronic Pain
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
• Concussion & Traumatic Brain Injury
• Crohn’s Disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease
• Interstitial Cystitis
• Lyme Disease
• Migraine/Headache
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Sports Injuries
• Stroke
• Surgery Preparation & Recovery
• Ulcerative Colitis

Although hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been largely used for medical purposes, athletes have used it most recently as a performance-enhancing tool. Additionally, studies have shown that hyperbaric oxygen therapy isn’t just beneficial but can also slow aging. 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy isn’t just a trendy longevity tool used in the US – it’s also widely used in other countries. Many people travel specifically to receive this form of therapy as it can be significantly cheaper in different markets.

Benefits of HBOT

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been traditionally used to treat decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, and wound healing. However, it has been shown to provide a multitude of benefits, particularly for athletes and longevity enthusiasts: 

1. Faster Recovery: HBOT has been shown to accelerate tissue healing and cell recovery in athletes, two functions which help to lessen post-workout fatigue and increase stamina. 
2. Healing and Preventing Sports Injuries: Similarly, hyperoxygenation can reduce inflammation and regenerate muscle tissue, which can help athletes recover from injuries quicker and prevent them from occurring. HBOT has also been shown to help heal acute traumatic brain injury (TBI) that results from concussions. 
3. Improved Performance: HBOT helps to improve athletes’ performance by increasing aerobic capacity and endurance. A study showed that improved athletic performance may also be a result of increased mitochondria efficiency. 
4. Mitochondrial Support: Through higher levels of oxygen, HBOT helps to optimize cellular energy product (the role our mitochondria play). It can stimulate mitochondrial biogenesis, which improves mitochondrial function and energy production in our cells. 
5. Improved Mental Clarity & Cognitive Function: A study conducted on a single subject showed an improvement in areas such as cognition, memory, brain processing speed, athletic performance, and blood flow. 

Separately, there are specific physiological mechanisms that occur that help to slow aging or even reverse it. 

1. Neovascularization: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy triggers neovascularization, or the growth of new blood vessels in the body. This helps to increase blood circulation and rejuvenate tissue in the body even after treatment. Because aging is associated with reduced tissue regeneration, the revitalization of tissue can help offset aging. 
2. Increased Stem Cells: Stem cells can play a crucial role in delaying the aging process. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to increase stem cells in the body eight-fold. Because stem cells help allow cells to replicate, grow, and die (the processes which help to keep an organism working optimally), an increase in stem cells can keep the body in its optimal state, fending off aging.  
3. Increased Telomere Length: Telomere length is directly correlated with aging, as telomere lengths shortens as we age. A study has shown that hyperbaric oxygen therapy can increase telomere length by more than 20% in an aging population and it also can clear away senescent cells (stagnant cells that trigger inflammation) by 10-37%.  
4. Elevate Antioxidant Activity: Oxidative stress causes severe damage in the body and contributes to aging. Under the right conditions, hyperbaric oxygen therapy can enhance antioxidant activity by modulating the balance between free radicals and scavengers. It has been shown to improve mitochondrial activity (as mentioned above) and increase free radical scavengers, which provides an effective defense against oxidative stress. 
5. Anti-inflammation: Aging is characterized by chronic inflammation, but hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been shown to be anti-inflammatory. It reduces inflammation by turning off genes responsible for inflammation, inhibiting pro-inflammatory factors and promoting anti-inflammatory factors. Overall, this contributes to strengthening the immune system and enhancing mitochondrial function.

Where can I go to try hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

You can typically find hyperbaric oxygen therapy available at wound-healing clinics. You can use this search function at Hyperbaric Aware to find a hyperbaric oxygen therapy provider near you. 

Take note that the treatment centers included on this site typically provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a treatment for certain conditions, which may even be covered by most major insurance carriers. The center you choose can help you determine if you’ll be a good candidate for treatment; however, if you’re looking to use hyperbaric oxygen therapy strictly as a means of enhancing your health or longevity, you may either need to pay out of pocket or find clinics elsewhere that can support your goals. 

Mild HBOT v. Regular HBOT

There’s also a mild form of hyperbaric oxygen therapy that you can find in more consumer clinics such as Restore or chiropractic clinics.

The difference between mild HBOT and regular HBOT is that mild HBOT uses a soft-side chamber versus a hard-side chamber. A mild chamber cannot surpass 1.3 atmospheres and cannot reach 100% oxygen, either. 

Although mild HBOT has less safety risks with fire or toxicity, as it doesn’t use 100% oxygen, the scientific studies that have researched the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy were conducted on hard-side chambers only. It’s difficult to say whether or not you’ll receive the same, if not similar, benefits using mild HBOT. However, if you’re willing to invest the time and money to try it, you can determine for yourself whether or not mild HBOT can provide you with the benefits you’re looking for. 

What are the risks?

Because hyperbaric oxygen therapy is either conducted in a medical setting at a wound care treatment center or a mild version of it is conducted in a consumer clinic, it is considered a generally safe procedure. However, complications can happen, as it does carry some risk. 

Potential side effects and risks to hyperbaric oxygen therapy include:

• Fatigue
• Lightheadedness
• Lung damage
• Middle ear injuries
• Temporary changes in vision
• Oxygen poisoning 
• Lung collapse
• Fire (due to the oxygen-rich environment)

It’s important to be transparent with and listen to the medical staff who are assisting you with treatment. You may have certain conditions that make utilizing this form of therapy dangerous, so it’s important to discuss this with your primary care physician, as well. 

Generally, if pressures don’t exceed 300 kPa and the treatment is less than two hours, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is considered safe. 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for longevity

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can provide promising results in healing a variety of medical conditions, but it can also be a great tool to assist with your health, athletic performance, and longevity. HBOT is used all over the world to help with injury prevention and healing, performance optimization, and countering the effects of aging to help potentially extend one’s life. 

It’s important, as with any medical treatment, to work with trained medical professionals and follow safety guidelines when undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy. That said, if you’re looking for a non-invasive longevity treatment proven to offset the physiological mechanisms that contribute to aging, consider HBOT.