Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy at Long Covid
Long-COVID or post-COVID syndrome can manifest itself in many ways. Here, cognitive complaints and chronic fatigue are often at the forefront. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is one of the few proven methods that can reduce long-term symptoms after COVID infection.
Why hyperbaric oxygen therapy with Long-COVID?
In mid-2022, a major article was published in the renowned scientific journal Nature describing the positive effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Long COVID patients.
Our own results are also very encouraging, we see within our center how symptoms can decrease after a series of treatments!
While visiting our hyperbaric oxygen chamber, you will enter an environment with much more available oxygen than is available in the outside air. Not only do you get extra oxygen through the nasal mask, the pressure inside the oxygen chamber is also higher than the pressure outside the chamber.
As a result, you breathe in much more oxygen, which ensures that there is much more oxygen in the tissues of your body. This amount can be as much as 12 times higher than normal. This triggers all kinds of processes in your body.
How can hyperbaric oxygen therapy promote recovery from
long-COVID?
There are a number of important processes that are at the forefront. There are probably other health effects, but they have not yet been sufficiently proven so we cannot yet mention them with certainty. **
The main effect for Long-COVID comes from the increased amount of oxygen available in the brain. This effect is extensively described in several large medical studies.* This effect is called an increase in perfusion in the brain.
Due to the increased availability of oxygen in the brain, various processes are initiated while others are inhibited. Thus, there is an increase in the creation of connections between brain cells(neuroplasticity**) which improves and restores the interaction between different parts of the brain.
In addition, several neurotransmitters are additionally released, allowing damage to the brain to be repaired.(interleukins, TNF-alpha***) and the production of new blood vessels is stimulated(vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF, NOX***).
It also inhibits the inflammatory process initiated by Long-COVID and decreases the presence of inflammatory cells. All of these processes contribute to improved brain function, reducing neurological symptoms.
At the same time, the extra presence of oxygen in the body, also causes a variety of processes that can also reduce physical symptoms.
What symptoms may diminish after hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Long-COVID
Cognitive complaints
Depression
Fears
Sleep problems
Chronic pains (this is often neurological in Long-COVID)
Fatigue (both neurological and physical)
Brain fog / brain fog
Concentration complaints
Overexcitation
Physical complaints
Fatigue
Muscle pain
Heart disease
Nausea
Malaise feeling
Headache
Vision complaints
Not everyone has all of these symptoms. You may have certain symptoms very strongly and others not at all. In addition, it is also important to realize that the effect of therapy can vary between people.
“Due to the increased availability of oxygen in the brain, various processes are triggered while others are inhibited.
Thus, there is an increase in the creation of connections between brain cells (neuroplasticity**) which improves and restores the interaction between different parts of the brain.”
What does a course of hyperbaric oxygen therapy at Rejuvenate look like for you?
To make a difference, it is important for your body to be exposed to the extra oxygen over an extended period of time. So going into the oxygen chamber once or twice has little effect.
You can compare this to working out for better fitness. Again, you only achieve this effect after several training sessions. In Long-COVID, extensive research has been done on the amount of sessions recommended.
The most health benefits are achieved through a series of 40 treatments, within a 50-day period. An individual session lasts 60 minutes, during which the pressure is built up to 1.5 atmospheres. As a result, much more oxygen is available in your brain.
We can also treat at a pressure of 2 atmospheres, however, for the sake of safety and comfort, we choose a pressure of 1.5 atmospheres.
Therefore, this is the protocol we recommend and offer.
Source
* https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-15565-0
** https://nvvhg.nl/
*** https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8130666/
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for Long-COVID symptoms at Rejuvenate
Our center is not called “Rejuvenate” for nothing, through the extra oxygen we want to initiate processes normally associated with rejuvenation. Within our practices, you will always receive an intake first, where we will examine your eligibility for oxygen therapy. We also advise on the most appropriate course of treatment.
If you have questions or would like more information, simply send us a message or give us a call. We will then inform you further. You can also schedule an appointment directly on the contact page.
