Did you know that the air we breathe contains only 20% oxygen? While this amount is generally sufficient for a regular person, people with chronic lung or breathing conditions may find it extremely low. Therefore, when blood oxygen levels are low, you may feel shortness of breath, fatigue or confusion.
Furthermore, in the long term, lack of oxygen in the blood can pose serious health risks, that are better to be prevented than treated. That’s why oxygen therapy was created for people to deliver oxygen to their bloodstream. Let’s take a look at oxygen therapy, how it works, who needs it, the benefits and what it’s used for:
What is Oxygen Therapy?
Oxygen therapy is a treatment that provides additional oxygen to patients who struggle to obtain enough. As you may know, different diseases and ailments can cause a person to not receive enough oxygen. Because of this, oxygen therapy is a viable solution for those people to receive the oxygen their bodies need to function normally.
Who needs Oxygen Therapy?
Simply feeling shortness of breath isn’t always a qualifier for needing oxygen therapy. It’s likely your doctor will require blood tests to study the amount of oxygen in your blood levels. Once your doctor can definitively determine that your blood levels are low, he or she may then recommend you oxygen therapy, whether long-term or for a short period of time.
What are the symptoms of low oxygen?
When you aren’t receiving enough oxygen, you may experience one or more symptoms including rapid breathing, shortness of breath, increased heart rate, wheezing, sweating, and fatigue. These symptoms can negatively impact your daily habits and overall quality of life.
How does Oxygen Therapy work?
The oxygen is usually administered through a breathing tube, a mask or nasal prongs. People with chronic breathing problems may also receive a portable oxygen tank so that they may have access to the oxygen anywhere outside the clinic. There are a few different oxygen therapies that can be prescribed based on a patient’s analysis results, including oxygen gas, liquid oxygen, oxygen concentrators and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.
What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy?
In hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you will breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized room or through a pressurized tube, allowing your lungs to gather more oxygen than they normally do. In this pressurized room—or hyperbaric chamber—the air pressure is increased up to four times the normal air pressure level.
What is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy used for?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be used to treat many different serious infections, wounds and more. Just a few include:
Severe anemia
Brain abscess
Burn
Crushing injury
Gangrene
Infection of skin or bone
Nonhealing wounds
Radiation injury
Benefits of Oxygen Therapy
Both oxygen therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy deliver incredible benefits to those being treated. When administered regularly or until the doctor deems necessary, oxygen therapy can aid in easier breathing, increase exercise tolerance, improve sex life, and facilitate to safer air travel. Additionally, oxygen therapy can reduce the complications associated with COPD, pulmonary hypertension, heart failure and more by relieving shortness of breath, fatigue, and dizziness. On top of that, for COPD patients, oxygen therapy can even prolong life.
Many people need long-term oxygen therapy to prolong a normal, active life, as oxygen therapy assists in making everyday activities easier and more pleasant. If you feel constant shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, or have any chronic lung conditions, don’t hesitate to contact our center to see if oxygen therapy can be helpful for your particular condition.