Hey y'all and welcome to the everyday athlete podcast recorded live from Omaha, Nebraska and I'm your host, Katie danger U S army veteran and founder of Red H Nutrition providing everyday athletes just like you, clean, effective nutritional solutions, custom formulated to help you reach your absolute potential every single day.
(00:29): Hello, again, athletes. Welcome to episode number 32 of the everyday athlete podcast. Hey, I'm going to be sharing my experience with hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy. And I believe at the end of last week's episode, I said that we were going to be chatting about intermittent fasting, but I wanted to change topics real quick because I really wanted to hit on this. And we're going to jump into intermittent fasting next week in episode number 33. So episode number 32, here we are hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy. You guys know by now, if you've listened to more than one episode, I love to try new things, especially when I feel like I'm stuck in my progress. So I'll always look for ways to change it up. And I always want to see if there's a better puzzle piece that fits into my overall best person, my optimal wellness now, after dealing with the aftermath of carbon monoxide poisoning. And when I say that, I'm not even sure what the severity was of the poisoning I had, but I do know that it was bad enough in our home that four of our pets died from it.
(01:24): So I assumed that because it killed some of our pets and the toxicity was so high that I've been affected. And if you want more background on that experience of mine and you don't know what I'm even talking about, go to episode number 27 and hear about my experience with carbon monoxide poisoning in our home and how air quality affects your fitness. But before I digress, if you don't know what I'm talking about, episode number 27, but this whole episode here, the hyperbaric oxygen chamber, it stems from the effects that I have been feeling or was feeling from carbon monoxide poisoning. So I was struggling with my concentration. I was apathetic. It didn't feel like a depression though. And I'm talking about all this in past tense because I am on the other side of all of these symptoms now because of hyperbaric oxygen. But I went through and I went like a dear diary version of all of the days in my experiences.
(02:17): So what I was experiencing is I wanted, I wanted to do some things. I felt like I wanted to be doing something creative, whether it was involved with work or going out just to the park or exercising, and I've wanted to do these things, but I just could not get to get going. Like I couldn't get off the couch. I couldn't put pen to paper. I just really didn't have any clear focus or ideas. And for me that's really not normal. Like even reading a book was hard because I could not keep my concentration. And I've always enjoyed being creative. That's what I love about being a business owner and creating a brand like reddish nutrition or like the everyday athlete podcast. I love to be creative. I love to share my ideas in ways that perhaps people haven't heard them before. So I enjoy this, but I feel like after carbon monoxide and as the weeks went by, as we were picking up the pieces, I just couldn't concentrate.
(03:07): And really the only thing major that had changed in my environment was the carbon monoxide. So we got a new furnace, we've got the issues cleared up. I've really had to go through some help with working on my feelings of regret since some of our animals passed away. And there's some grief with that too, but there was just more going on than those sorts of things. I can't explain it. It's just, when you know that you're not right, you're not right. So I was at a chiropractic appointment and I started to tell my doctor, she asked how I was, and I said, you know what? I am just not good. I'm usually not that honest with people, but you know, I do, I trust her a lot, but I just wasn't feeling well. So she actually told me a story about her and she had some particularly close to what could have been fatal head trauma.
(03:48): And when she was younger and she used hyperbaric oxygen to help her recover from the head trauma. And now I'm not dealing with any like physical head trauma, but I guess I could relate when it came to some of the symptoms, she felt, you know, she couldn't focus. She couldn't concentrate. She had even more severe effects from head trauma in terms of cognition. But you know, I'd never done anything like this before. I really didn't even know what hyperbaric oxygen therapy was for. So I also didn't even know if there were any options to find a chambering and get this therapy done in Omaha where I'm at, but this is a great thing about Google. So I picked up my phone after I got done with my Cairo placement. I picked up my phone and I Googled hyperbaric oxygen Omaha, and I got a few options.
(04:30): So I started at the top of the list and actually started with the university of Nebraska medical center. I thought that that was probably the best option one. It turned out not to be, but here's how it works. So they actually at the UMC, the university, Nebraska medical center, they have a specific department and a doctor for all the hyperbaric oxygen treatment. And it turns out the process here is that you first need to see a doctor. So I'm going to see the hyperbaric oxygen doctor. He checks you out. And then he determines if you're a good candidate for treatment. And then you get access to their level one hyperbaric oxygen chamber. So I am a self insured American, and I always have to ask about payment options because I do not involve insurance in any of my medical transactions. And this is where the journey could have stalled, but I kept going, what happened is, is the receptionist said that I can self pay for the doctor's visit, but to actually get the treatment, it has to be approved by insurance.
(05:21): And I told her, I said, I don't use insurance. Can I self pay? This wasn't even an option. So she said, I could keep the appointment with the doctor, but I didn't even know what the point was if I go to the doctor and he determines I'm a good candidate, what's even the point if I can't even use the chamber. So whatever, I didn't make my appointment and I didn't stop. I got discouraged because I spent like 30 minutes on the phone with her explaining my situation only to come to setting up the appointment. And then finally asking about payment and boom stall. So went back to Google, checked out another hyperbaric oxygen option in Omaha. And I came up with the Merck, M E R C, and it stands for the metabolic engineering and recovery center. It sounded like exactly what I needed. So I called a guy, his name was Doug, and he gave me all the details.
(06:07): I told him about my experience at the UMC and he cleared up a few things. He said that you and MC operates on level one chambers, and then there's level two chambers and level two are just slightly lower pressure. Overall in a level one level one is a medical grade chamber. So that's why you have to get insurance involved. And that's why I wasn't able to use it because I could not use insurance. So whatever, I didn't have to jump through that hoop because it turns out that these level two chambers, you could go online right now and you could buy your own chamber. And the one that I use, the one that I was using at the Merck costs $11,000. Now that doesn't include the oxygen to set it up or the oxygen mass or oxygen itself. But yeah, I mean, if you've got 11 grand to spend, you could go and get yourself a hyperbaric chamber as well.
(06:53): Pretty cool. But anyway, I don't have 11 grand to spend and I just wanted to use this probably just for this one moment in my life. I mean, unless other things come up, but I'm going to pay on your cash flow. You could have a chamber off of yourself. Anyway. So I got off the phone. I was on the phone, Doug, I set up an appointment and I was going to start on a Monday so we can goes by and I start on a Monday. But before I tell you about how my treatment went, I want to tell you a little bit more about hyperbaric oxygen therapy and how it can help you. So I'm just going to use the term HBO hyperbaric oxygen as we go through this. So HBO therapy is sometimes called rapid oxygen therapy because it quickly delivers a very concentrated amounts of oxygen through your body.
(07:35): Now, regular use of a chamber. It can improve the function of a whole body of systems that rely on oxygen. That includes the immune system, the metabolism, heart function, and lung function, pretty much everything that makes up the body. So the Merc, the metabolic engineering recovery center, the place that I want, it has one of the only HBO chambers in Omaha. And I've used this now, the Merck also uses it in conjunction with their other programs. So they've got like cryotherapy, they have Thermo therapy, which it's kind of like an endless pool where you've got a current and it's very, very warm. So it helps with muscles and joints and things like that. So really cool at the merch because they understand how to use one treatment for the bigger picture and the bigger goal of whatever that client is. So I really like the merch for that.
(08:21): And also they're one of the only places in Omaha that had an HBO chamber. So here's how the therapy works. The therapy involves breathing, concentrated oxygen in a pressurized tube. Now this pressure gets up to four PSI pounds per square inch, and it increases the oxygen concentration in your blood. And ultimately in your body tissue, as oxygen levels increase red blood cells can carry more oxygen and deliver it to our body tissues, which helps speeds up healing waste gases and toxins are removed more efficiently and cells begin to function. Normally we all know that oxygen is necessary for all the function of the body. And it's absolutely essential. If you want to prevent inflammation and improve your metabolism. Oxygen also helps to neutralize harmful acids of buildup, which are caused from physical exertion. When we work out, we have waste byproducts that accumulate in our blood lactic acid.
(09:13): So oxygen helps neutralize the buildup of acid like that helps eliminate anaerobic viruses, bacteria, and fungi, which can't live in an oxygen rich environment with more oxygen in your body. Our metabolism increases, and this leads to more fat burning capacity. Oxygen is also utilized by every single cell in the body. And when we don't get enough oxygen, like if we have chronic inflammation or if we happen to be getting older and our systems are not as efficient, what happens is these cells can start to die. But what happens is if we're able to rapidly deliver oxygen to all the cells, they begin to function properly again and improves the function of your organs, your muscles, your nerves, your blood vessels, everything in the body. And in the case of me, this is not just if you're old or if you're physically injured on the outside.
(10:00): This has helped people with depression. Doug at the Merck told me that he has some people with PTSD come in and they are literally different people from the time they start their treatment to at the end. So here's how my treatment went. Here's how day one started. I got to the Merck I checked in. I went to a room and in this room they had three hyperbaric chamber pods ready to go. And there was actually somebody in one of them when I started. So there were going to be too full and there's still one left to go. So these chambers, if I can give you the best idea of what they're made out of, if you've ever had a large outdoor pool, like one of those really heavy duty vinyl ones, that's what this chamber was made out of. And it has a zipper on the size you can get inside. It's like a double zipper. So when you get in, you close it from the inside and then the guy
(10:45): Or gal whoever's operating the outside of it, zips it on the outside to ever heard. The same failing to prepare is preparing to fail a major component to your competitive success will be your nutrition, prep. And I create a competition nutrition guide to help you utilize pre intra and post-competition nutrition protocols to boost your confidence heading into a competition, recover quicker post comps. You get right back to training and increase your power output and max capacity. So you can own that podium. I created this guide just for the everyday athlete and you can get your free copy at competitionnutritionguide.com. I'll say it again. Competitionnutritionguide.com.
(11:33): So mine on the inside, it has a custom contoured mattress. It was actually pretty cool.And I had a pillow, a blanket. It was small enough in there where me, so I'm five, six, five, 625 pounds. I could sit straight up so I could sit like Indian style and cross my legs. And I could read a book if I wanted to, or you can lay down, you do have to wear an oxygen mask. Since you're going to be absorbing more oxygen at that pressure, you want to make sure that you have as much pure oxygen available to flood your body and tissues with. So I got in, I got in, I brought my phone, I had my headphones. I brought a book. I mean, I didn't really know what to bring the first day, but I knew that I was going to be in there for an hour. So I want to be comfortable. Doug told me to keep my phone on airplane mode and on airplane mode, I can't access the internet.
(12:11): So I asked him why airplane mode? And he just said, so our ringers and don't go off and disturb anybody, but I didn't listen. I just kept my phone on silent in airplane mode. So I wasn't going to serve anybody. I hooked up my oxygen mask. I turned the chamber on. And then after a few minutes, the pressure I'm looking at the pressure dial and it was close to 1.5. So zero is where we exist at pressure normally. And then the pressure chamber started to go up to 1.5. And this really isn't a lot, but my ears, I like have chronic ear wax, ear pressure, just ear issues. I don't know if my ear can help or something like aren't anatomically normal, but I just have always had problems with my ear. So I want to preface with that. It gets up to about 1.5 on the pressure and my ears started to hurt and I couldn't get my ears to pop.
(12:55): I was like trying to chew with my mouth. I didn't have any gum, but I was trying to mimic what gum would look like. And I couldn't get my ears to pop. So this pain was actually significant. Luckily Doug came in, he checked on me and I told him that my ears hurt. They were like burning and they hurt. So he removed some of the pressure I acclimated and then I've told him I felt better. So he turned the pressure at gauge to go back up. And the pressure reached. It reached that full four PSI in less than seven minutes. No, I didn't really feel any different. On the first day I did enjoy the fact that I got to sit in that chamber and relax, but honestly, the discomfort in my ears and that I couldn't get my ears to pop. It was kind of uncomfortable.
(13:33): And it's day two rolled around. I was a little apprehensive because of that discomfort that I felt. And I did all day have a little bit of residual soreness in my ears. I kind of felt like I had a very, very small, dull, light headache prior to the night. So, you know, I keep at these things though. And I went on day two and I sat another hour in the chamber. I watched the gauge more for today than I did on day one. I just wanted to see how long it took to get to the pressure. And I actually didn't have him released any pressure today. I was able to handle it the whole way through my ears popped, and I did not get that burning heavy feeling in my ear. So I was happy about that. I was able to get up to four full PSI and my ears didn't hurt.
(14:15): I was able to get them to pop. So I actually slept in the chamber too. I was able to relax. I had my pillow and my blanket, and I also had a larger oxygen mask today because this one fit my face a little bit better, I guess. I didn't know that they had different sizes, but FYI, in the future, if you do this, make sure you ask for an oxygen mask that would fit your face. If it's too small or too big, it can, it's just uncomfortable. You know, it works, but Hey, if you want to have the best experience, get the right fitting oxygen mask. So day three, I really still didn't feel much different after day two. I hadn't really had any sparks of creativity. I still have the soreness in my hips. I felt like I saw that chronic inflammation. I do know that I didn't have that heavy feeling in my ears.
(14:59): And I did not have a dull headache after treatment. I was able to get a little bit more work done after my second treatment, I had a little bit of more creativity. And in fact, I started keeping track of my notes for this very podcast. So there weren't big leaps and bounds, but there was a little bit of progress. So day three was exciting. My sat in the chamber on day three, I did actually some more research on HBO therapy and here's some really interesting facts. So if it's one sudden burst of pressure, a human can survive from 50 PSI. Now for reference, I am in four in a human can survive at 50 that's. If it hits you all at once, if it's gradually increased. So like in it hyper in a chamber, if you had a gradual increase, human can live up to 400 pounds of pressure per square inch 400.
(15:49): I'm sitting in a chamber for imagine 400. Anyway, just some interesting facts that I did some research on it while I was sitting in the chamber day three went fast. It was like I was in and I was out. I really didn't relax much. I was more restless. I'm not sure if that's because I was feeling better and I wanted to get out, but I will tell you that after therapy on day three, when I walked out, I really started to feel alive. Again. I found the drive. I started writing my affirmations again. I wanted to start reading and I was able to be present, be present my biggest issues before relax, have clarity. I didn't have any focus in too many racing thoughts. And I was just kind of riddled with this overwhelming feeling. I also have had some longstanding chronic inflammation in my lower back.
(16:31): I mentioned that earlier, and it's just not related to injury or overuse. And it feels like once again, it's something that's been caused by carbon monoxide. The cool thing about flooding inflamed tissue with oxygen is it promotes healing. And the HBO therapy lets you take in three times more oxygen. The benefits are clear at this point after day three, the benefits are clear to me. I believe so long story short after day three, I was sold on the treatment and I was definitely looking forward to day four and day five and day six. So Thursday, Thursday, day four today I had a plan of getting in there. I want to check a few social media things. And then I was going to hit the snooze button. The pressure increased to four. Everything was fine. I didn't have any popping in my ears. Really. The only time I've had popping in my ears now is when the pressure comes down, the pressure comes down way faster than it goes up.
(17:18): So I feel like that's where that's the ear popping in that pressure feeling day for feeling good though. I started to stretch again, drinking lots of water. I'm really trying to do everything to assist this healing process, particularly with my back pain and inflammation. So that's where the stretching and drinking lots of water comes in day five, day five was so relaxing. I was really, really looking forward to day five, just sitting in there relaxing. I did a few social media things, but I slept, I slept, I got done with treatment and I was actually ready to talk to the guy about buying more sessions. Cause this is five. I actually thought that I was done after five sessions, but I was waiting up at the front desk for Doug after I got done. And he told me like, Hey, I'll see you tomorrow.
(17:56): And I looked and I'm kind of confused. And he told me, I paid for six sessions. So for 300 bucks, I got six sessions. I thought I got five. He tells me I got six, whatever I'm going to take it. So I've got one more day of HBO therapy on Saturday and I'm really excited for it. So day six Saturday, I got there and Saturdays are actually a little bit busier than usual. The gym area of the Merck. It was really busy this morning. If I haven't said it before, the majority of the clients that this facility serves seems to be the over 60 crowd and Doug who is the head trainer there. I picked his brain a little bit about it, but he did mention that his main demographic is the over 60 crowd. He said he either gets two types of people. He either gets those really, really serious athletes, or he gets the older individuals looking to keep or get some independence back using those therapies that I talked about and then using his expertise in functional movement treatment today was really straight forward.
(18:48): I got in the chamber, the chamber increased a foreign pressure and I took a nap. It was absolutely fantastic. Six full days of hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy treatment. I did ask Doug when I got done what the model was because I wanted to get some better sizing and information for you. And it's the summit to C model. It's a 40 inch in diameter chamber. So 40 inches in diameter and seven feet in length. So it was a five, six person. I had plenty of room to relax in here. And you, he said you can really fit two people in these things. He mentioned that he does couples treatments where both will get in the chamber at once one person's head at the end. The other person said at the end. So let's get to the point here, the bottom line, six total days of hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy.
(19:30): And how do I feel? How did it go? You guys, I feel so much better. I've been more creative lately. I've been able to get some really good work done. I've had some clear thoughts and I always feel my best when I'm creative. I love to create things. I love to share thoughts, new ideas, inspire, educate, and empower. That's what I love to do. And I'm not always about the amount of work I get done. It's just how much quality I can put behind it. And when I'm creative, when I can flow freely with my thoughts, I can really add a lot of value and quality to the things that I share, including this very podcast before it was like I had this mental block, I had no thoughts and I just really had no desire either. That just isn't like me. I'm also feeling a lot less sore and stiff in my joints and body.
(20:12): I know it has to do with my stretching, but this hyperbaric oxygen, it has definitely helped my tissues heal. HBO therapy does significantly help inflammation. So if you happen to have chronic inflammation that just won't go away. I want you to check out hyperbaric chamber. I want you to check it out. I'm going back next week. So I took a week off. This happens to be over the 4th of July holiday. So I'm taking this week off and then I'm going to start up in another week and get six more days of treatment. So I did six days. I'm taking seven days off and then I'll start six more days because I want to add like that cherry on top. I just to make sure that I'm the best that I can be. And if you haven't listened yet, make sure you go back, check out episode number 27 of the podcast, get the whole backstory of my experience with carbon monoxide poisoning and the effects of long term exposure.
(21:00): Because that is what led me to this very episode and sharing with you. My hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, I've ended up telling a lot of people about my experience with carbon monoxide and how I've used HBO to treat these lingering effects of exposure. I've gotten all thumbs up from everybody. I've actually met a few people. Who've used hyperbaric oxygen to help them with near fail injuries, like a car accident. And then my chiropractor, who's had head trauma and use HBO therapy to restore her cognitive function from that. So the stuff is a real deal guys. And I'm going to encourage you to seek out the nearest facility for your own therapy. If you happen to be struggling with things like lack of focus, clarity, lethargic, anything that's out of the norm for you. If you've got chronic injuries, pain, or even some chronic wounds that won't heal.
(21:44): Also check out hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy athletes. This has been my experience with HBO. It has been great and I would highly recommend that is the bottom line. I highly recommend. If you love this episode, please please leave a five star review. And I want you to share it with your friends. Sharing is caring and that is what I'm doing for you sharing this information with you. I want you to use it. If you have anybody who can use it, or if you can use it in your life, share it with somebody. I hope you all have a great rest of your day. Thank you so much for spending the past 22 minutes with me. And next week, next week, I'm going to dive into intermittent fasting. And we're going to talk about how you can easily start to add IMF, intermittent, fasting to your meal, timing component, and do your routine so you can see some of these great, amazing positive changes in your body, fat, your focus and your overall daily energy. I have been using a form of intermittent fasting for about six months now, and I have seen some really, really awesome benefits. I want to share it all with you. So until next time athletes remember head on over to [inaudible] dot com. Use the code podcast 20, save 20% on your favorite supplements. They're going to help you do more and be more and get the most from your fitness training. You guys athletes, we will chat again next week. Thank you for tuning in and until then, this is Katie D over and out.
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