Introduction
This website contains information about High Dose Oxygen Therapy (HDOT); our chamber; therapy protocols and the process itself. This information is provided to help you familiarise yourself with the therapy, but please speak with a member of our team if you have any questions.
Kent Oxygen Therapy Centre does not provide medical advice, diagnose health conditions, or prescribe treatments. Access to, and participation in High Dose Oxygen Therapy (HDOT) is on a strictly self-referral basis and an assessment of the self-declared information you have provided on your assessment form. Your oxygen therapy protocol is based on an increasing pressure protocol (IPP) (more information on IPP can be found in our Oxygen Therapy Guidebook.
We provide High Dose Oxygen Therapy, and the chamber we use is called a Baro-Chamber. Our Baro-Chamber is constructed in such a way to ensure that it cannot exceed a pressure of more than two atmospheres. The type of chambers we use were deregulated from the then-called Health Commission (now CQC) back in 2008. For the purpose of this guide we shall refer to HDOT as Oxygen Therapy.
Oxygen Therapy refers to intermittent therapy of the entire body with 99.8% oxygen at greater than normal atmospheric pressure. That pressure is defined as one atmosphere absolute (1 ATA).
ATA: atmosphere absolute, a unit of expressing partial pressure of gases at depth
In our normal breathing atmosphere of 1ATA we normally breathe approximately 21% oxygen, 78% nitrogen and 1% other gases. While undergoing Oxygen Therapy, pressure is increased up to a maximum two times (2 ATA) while breathing 99.8% oxygen through a mask.
Oxygen Therapy is an supplemental therapy for many conditions, meaning it is used in conjunction with other treatment and is a part of your self-care and healthcare regime.
Increased pressure, combined with an increase in oxygen to 99.8% dissolves oxygen in the blood plasma and in all body cells, tissues and fluids at up to 10 times normal concentration.
Healing cannot take place without adequate oxygen. Many illnesses and injuries occur and often linger, at a cellular level, such as circulatory problems, strokes or non-healing wounds. Adequate oxygen cannot reach the damaged area and the body’s natural healing ability is sometimes unable to function properly.
Oxygen Therapy has several potential positive effects on the body including:
- Angiogenesis: stimulates the growth of capillaries in tissue to improve wound healing
- Hyperoxygenation: high levels of oxygen can help with the repair of cellular function
- Osteogenesis: stimulates the production of new bone cells in compromised bones
- Microbiological: high levels of oxygen help eliminate anaerobic bacteria
- Immune stimulation: increased phagocytosis and natural killer cells
- Decreased inflammation: decrease in TNF alpha, cytokines, and cyclo-oxygenase
- Vasoconstriction: oxygen causes the constriction of blood vessels which can reduce oedema
- Bubble reduction: increased pressure decreases nitrogen bubbles in decompression illness
- Tissue repair: increase in stem cell production may help in tissue regeneration
What to read next?
- Read about the benefits of Oxygen Therapy
More information?
- Contact us to find out more about sessions in our Oxygen Therapy chamber.
- Find out what happens during a session, how to access Oxygen Therapy and how much it costs
- Learn about conditions that Oxygen Therapy can help.
- Read first-person stories from people who Oxygen Therapy has worked for.