Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

[danhos8]

Has anyone tried this for pelvic pain or ED?

The other threads here are from a while ago:

• Oxygen Therapy
• Oxygenation

Admin comment: You're best bet is to try it out yourself. Please report back because we have no reports yet.

[danhos8]

Thanks webslave. Do you have thoughts on this therapy yourself? These are some of the studies I've come across:

ED:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30089290/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30907218/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29773856/

Interstitial Cystitis:

• https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... lind_Trial
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3116481/
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31690286/ (no/minimal improvement in this one)

There's also some studies on chronic and neuropathic pain.

According to Mayo Clinic , the (rare) risks are:

• Middle ear injuries, including leaking fluid and eardrum rupture, due to changes in air pressure
• Temporary nearsightedness (myopia) caused by temporary eye lens changes
• Lung collapse caused by air pressure changes (barotrauma)
• Seizures as a result of too much oxygen (oxygen toxicity) in your central nervous system
• Lowered blood sugar in people who have diabetes treated with insulin
• In certain circumstances, fire — due to the oxygen-rich environment of the treatment chamber

[webslave]

If it indeed helps (not really proven yet), then a possible hypothesis is that the oxygen is alleviating trigger points, which are themselves hypothesized to be areas of low oxygen concentration in muscles due to ischemia resulting from constant contraction.

Interestingly, a deliberate ischemia is used to treat trigger points as well, "ischemic compression":

Ischemic compression is a mechanical treatment of myofascial trigger points that consists of application of sustained pressure for a long enough time to inactivate the trigger points. Travell and Simons termed this therapy “ischemic compression” because, on release of pressure, the skin is at first blanched and then shows reactive hyperemia (an excess of blood in the vessels). These changes correspond to circulatory changes in the underlying muscle, which is subjected to the same pressure. Pressure can be applied with a thumb, finger, knuckle, or elbow depending on the size, depth, and thickness of the muscle being compressed. Specific pressure is applied directly to the center of the trigger point to the patient's tolerance.