A local family has been treating injuries, illnesses and conditions through means of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and now wants to show the community the benefits of the therapy.
According to OxyRegen’s therapist and CEO Josianne Ouellette, HBOT utilizes a pressurized chamber to allow oxygen to enter the bloodstream of the patient easily, helping with a quick and impactful recovery from many sorts of injuries or illnesses.
“Henry’s law said that a gas and a liquid cannot mix together,” said OxyRegen co-owner Antoine Ouellette. “So when you go in a chamber, you’ve got the oxygen and your blood and when you go under pressure, that’s the only time where a gas can mix with a liquid.
“You breathe and the oxygen stays in your body for up to 72 hours. Basically, you supercharge your body.”
The treatment is as easy as entering the pressurized chamber for a set amount of time, determined by Josianne, and breathing normally while doing anything from sleeping to reading a book to watching a few episodes of a favorite show.
For the Ouellette family, HBOT has been a staple in its growth for eight years. The entire family goes through HBOT daily to recover from strenuous workouts and injuries, but now want to expand their business to the community.
According to Josianne, there is no age limit to when a patient should begin HBOT and you don’t need to be an athlete to experience the benefits of the treatment.
She said there is no specific number of sessions for the hour to 90-minute treatment, but added the benefits are noticeable after the first couple of sessions.
“It depends on the condition and what we’re looking to achieve,” Josianne said.
“If we’re looking at a certain condition – for example, autism or fibromyalgia – a person will go an hour and a half per day, sometimes more, for a period of 40 days and then we see what happens.”
She said HBOT can aid in increasing energy and focus, as well as recovery from injury and surgery. It can also help manage symptoms of concussions, autism, carbon monoxide poisoning, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, fibromyalgia and more.
Although HBOT is still emerging in Canada, many prominent sports figures in the United States, including Michael Phelps, Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow and even Canada’s Genie Bouchard have been linked to HBOT.
The Ouellettes recently took on reigning CFL Defensive Player of the Year Alex Singleton of the Calgary Stampeders as a client.
Singleton began HBOT a month ago, but said he has seen an immediate impact.
“The biggest thing I noticed was my lung capacity,” Singleton said. “During my workouts and everything, breathing and getting through workouts was a lot easier.
“The guys I work out with, before we were all getting tired and getting to the point where you’re fighting for that next breath, but instead I have an extra hour and a half of a workout where I can easily finish.”
In addition to running a HBOT studio in their home in Morningside, the Ouellettes also rent out one of their three hyperbaric chambers and can even help co-ordinate purchases of chambers for those who would like one installed in their own homes.
For more information on HBOT and the Ouellette’s business, visit oxyregen.com, the OxyRegen Hyperbaric Therapy Facebook page or by calling 403-702-6477.
