Can This Airpod Heal Wounds, Aid Collagen Production and Assist Inflammation?
Can oxygen bring tangible benefits apart from, you know, keeping us alive?
Oxygen therapy has been orbiting the modern wellness space since O2 bars were set up in Los Angeles in the late 1990s but it dates back to the 18th century, when a doctor tried it to help a woman recover from pneumonia. Spoiler alert: it worked.
These days, the treatment involves sitting in a small chamber where the air pressure is increased to two, sometimes three, times higher than normal so your lungs fill with more oxygen and, the logic goes, so does your skin, muscles and blood. It’s long been a favourite of athletes, though its main application has been in healing wounds, as it reportedly triggers stem-cell growth. According to John Hopkins University, oxygen therapy can assist with a weakened immune system, inflammation and even collagen production. I have an autoimmune disease and who am I to say no to extra collagen?
It’s raining outside when I step into the zen, ecru space at Bionik Wellness in Sydney’s Surry Hills. I’m greeted by Sasha, who leads me downstairs, past the float-tank suites and sauna huts to a dark room where there’s a pod the size of your grandpa’s TV chair, covered in fibreglass. This is the pressurised chamber. There’s a green light inside that Sasha tells me is for people who like to meditate and choose a colour that aligns with what they visualise.
I clamber into the chamber, the oxygen pumped in through a small tube near my face. The green glow is a little too like Superman’s kryptonite for me so I turn it off and sit in the dark, which is peaceful in its own way. I inhale a few times and wait for it to start. I’m still waiting when my ears pop and I realise it’s already happening. It feels as low-key as relaxing in front of the TV so I do what I do at home – sit back and play Candy Crush.
Half an hour later, I’m done. I’m a little sleepy but that’s not new. It’s not until a week or so later that I’m running my finger across my forehead and realise that a small chicken pox scar is somehow smaller, as if it’s been deflated. I remember that tiny tube of oxygen was right at my forehead. Could this be the wound healing work I read about? Either way, I’m not complaining.
