You know how they say, the fountain of youth is one elusive dream. And it’s meant to stay that way forever. However, medical science has never shied away from making efforts to hold back aging. From lasers to botox, dermal fillers, and microdermabrasion, the list goes on and on.
The reasons aren’t too obscure to scan.
Look around, and you will find thousands lining up at expensive skin parlors and salons to look good, young, and full of life. What started as a full-blown hype is now a norm in society.
After all, what better than being able to pull the brakes on aging, even if it’s for a while.
Having said that, the ever-increasing penchant for alternative treatments, backed by a handful of research studies, is fast gaining popularity. One such prime instance is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT), believed to have shown tremendous efficacy for anti-aging.
Now, you might as well pull a frown and say, hang on! Isn’t that the same stuff they used to treat bends?
The answer is, yes!
HBOT was introduced to treat decompression sickness in deep-sea divers. With time, HBOT has evolved to deliver relief from a multitude of conditions like carbon monoxide posting, gangrenes, gas embolism, traumatic brain injuries, autism, and in the recent past, preventing hypoxia in severe cases of COVID. Athletes use hyperbaric chambers to treat field injuries and regain stamina.
How Does It Work For Anti-aging?
The therapy harnesses the power of oxygen, which in turn, removes unwanted wrinkles and thereby reduce overall tension on the skin.
In this post, we mull over HBOT, how it can arrest aging, hyperbaric chamber cost, and everything else in between.
What Causes Aging And Skin Damage?
Aging, as we all know, is a natural phenomenon.
However, as time progresses, our body starts losing the ability to produce collagen, elastin, and fibroblast. As a result, our skin tends to lose its elasticity, thereby making way for wrinkles. Things further take a hit by exposure to the sun, malnutrition, habits like smoking and drinking, and genetics.
Studies show how the female skin, due to increased production of estrogen tends to show wrinkles faster than their male counterparts.
Not to forget, UV radiation, another harmful factor leading to esophageal or photoaging, the symptoms of which include:
- Rough patches
- Abnormal pigmentation,
- Tingling sensations,
- Skin thickening
- Visible wrinkles, and
- Deep ceases
Prolonged UV radiation is also gives rise to esophageal angiogenesis. Conditions like this have led to first-hand solutions like the usage of creams, serums, intradermal fillers, chemical peels, and retinol.
Some also go forward with invasive options, which arguably do not provide satisfactory results. At times, things tend to get even worse as these treatments differ in their adaptability from one individual to another. Face lift and skin tightening surgeries are some of the extreme alternatives.
HBOT To The Rescue
While tracing the role of HBOT in reversing wrinkles, a research-based control group study sought evidence across hyperoxic or oxygen-rich environs.
Reportedly, exposure to such environments for no less than two hours reduces the formation of wrinkles. Moreover it brings down epidermal thickness caused due to UV radiation.
However, the efficacy of HBOT makes an overall positive impact on the skin.
The research on this is still underway, but the initial outcomes of the studies have been impressive. Pure oxygen gets picked up faster by the bloodstream. Thus, not only do the affected areas of the skin start to heal naturally, but it also stimulates the production of collagen. Therefore contributing to boosting skin elasticity and making you look younger.
Further, a recent study conducted by the Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Shamir Medical Center, Israel, depicted how HBOT, when used in healthy adults, can effectively arrest the aging of blood cells, thereby reversing the process. However, the underlying effect has something to do with telomeres that play a rather important role in human aging.
Ways A HBOT-induced Anti-agig Treatment Affects The Treatment
The HBOT-induced anti-aging treatment is said to affect the treatment in two distinct ways:
- Instead of shortening, the telomeres grew longer at a rate of about thirty percent, and
- The senescent cell percentage was reduced by thirty-seven percent.
With global researchers attempting to analyze both environmental as well as pharmacological and interventions to further enable telomere elongation, the findings of the TAU study were a significant breakthrough. Also, because most anti-aging treatments are costly, the hyperbaric chamber cost shouldn’t be a block if long-term efficacy is what everyone wants.
Wrap Up
While anti-aging treatments are yet to find a fulfilling ground, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is offering a window to future research.
In time, such pioneering research studies will see a successful outcome when HBOT will be able to reverse aging, working at the cellular level. However, the main challenge, in this case, remains the hyperbaric chamber cost which can be a tad bit expensive for many.
