Why does going in the chamber work better than sitting on the wall breathing O2?
Henry’s Law states that a liquid can hold a certain quantity of gas at a given pressure. If you increase the outside pressure then the liquid can hold more gas than previously. So if you double the amount of external pressure then the liquid (in this case, your blood) can carry twice the amount of gas.
So you normally breath 21 per cent of O2 and the rest is nitrogen. If you go to P4, which is double the pressure you are normally at and breathed air you would absorb twice as much O2 as normal. But in the chamber you are breathing 100 per cent O2, so now you are getting ten times as much O2 in your blood stream.
In addition your plasma and rheum can now carry a lot more O2. So if inflammation is restricting your blood flow in certain areas, then the plasma can deliver the necessary O2 and get the inflammation reduced more rapidly.
Thank you Cyril for putting this into words for me.
So, for me, a person with eczema, asthma and allergies – all inflammatory conditions – can oxygen therapy help?
I am not expecting a cure. Certainly not from the anaphylactic reactions, however I am hoping that oxygen therapy will reduce many of my every day symptoms and possibly even help me to eat more foods – the foods which just give me a limited amount of pain and discomfort like eggs. I am hoping it will help with the fatigue, reduce the eczema flare-ups, strengthen my immune system and so improve my quality of life tremendously.
Bring it on…
Look at you physics boffin!
I wish I could take some credit for the physics, but having never even had a physics lesson I don’t think I can. This was the lovely Cyril the Physics Boffin Squirrel who explained it. Never heard of that law… must look it up and include an explanation here for those of us not blessed with physics brains. Unless you can explain it Ken?
Thanks Ruth, Good article lots of great information that will come in very useful, I will be taking this back to the guys at work. It seems oxygen chambers really could make a differences.
Hi Jordan, yes I agree, I think the health benefits of oxygen therapy have been kept a secret for some reason. I wonder how many conditions it could benefit? I will be sharing the things I think have improved in a few weeks time. Watch this space.