The inflammation joint pain and arthritis can cause can be so intense that it leaves patients unable to complete even the simplest of tasks.
But a therapy available here in Yorkshire is seeing results in its patients, who are reporting less pain and more movement in their inflamed joints. The treatment is painless and non-invasive. It’s called Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and involves breathing in near-pure oxygen, under pressure, in a carefully controlled environment.
What does it do?
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HbOT) allows a significant increase in the amount of oxygen dissolved in the bloodstream. This ‘enriched blood’ is carried to the 15 Trillion cells in the body even those with blocked or reduced blood flow can benefit. For people who suffer with arthritis the therapy can help to reduce inflammation, reverse tissue hypoxia in the joint, reduce pain and improve range of movement. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has actually been found to inhibit the development of the disease process.
International studies are finding that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is markedly superior to the routine treatment of RA. In 1995, the Proceedings of the Eleventh International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine published the results of one particular study. These results indicated the following effects of hyperbaric oxygen on the disease.
Remission: 23.4% Obvious effect: 51.4% Improvement: 16.2% No effect: 8.1%
The total summarized effective rate of hyperbaric oxygen in treating RA was 91.9%. The authors of the study concluded, “In the treatment we find that hyperbaric oxygen is markedly superior to the routine treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.” A 2021 study found that HbOT is effective for joint pain in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis based on data from multiple, validated clinical measure You can find the full study here.
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