HBOT & Lyme Disease
If you grew up near a wooded area, you’re probably well-acquainted with ticks. Maybe your mom conducted bodily tick checks whenever you returned from playing outside. Perhaps you’ve even been bitten (and now you squirm when remembering removing the tick with tweezers!). You may know someone who was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme—or perhaps that someone is you.
Similar to spiders, ticks are parasitic arachnids, which means they have eight legs and they survive by ingesting blood from a host (1). Ticks’ preferred hosts are rodents, deer, and more and more frequently, humans. When a tick carrying Lyme disease bites its host, the disease can be passed on. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the most common infectious, vector-borne disease in the United States is Lyme (2).
The classic sign of Lyme is a bullseye-shaped rash (called “erythema migrans”) around the bite (2). Not all Lyme sufferers get the bullseye rash, so the diagnosis can be missed for years. Early symptoms may also include headaches, fevers, and fatigue (2). When diagnosed and treated quickly, Lyme can usually be cured with a few weeks of antibiotic treatment (2). If Lyme isn’t treated, it can spread to other parts of the body, like your heart, nervous system, or joints (2).
Lyme disease can lie dormant in humans for years, meaning your symptoms might not appear until years after a tick bite (3). Common symptoms of chronic or untreated Lyme include joint pain, exhaustion, decreased mobility, and brain fog. If you’ve been diagnosed with Chronic Lyme Disease, hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is an innovative, effective treatment that’s helped many Lyme patients heal.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing 100% infused oxygen inside a pressurized chamber. For decades, HBOT has proven effective for treating a multitude of medical conditions, including diabetic ulcers, sudden hearing loss, and radiation injury (4). While there is currently no cure for Chronic Lyme, HBOT can enable you to lead a better quality of life. HBOT can kill the stubborn, biofilm-protected Lyme bacterium (borrelia burgdorferi) because it elevates tissue oxygenation, increases white blood cell counts, and enhances your immune system response (3).
A 2014 case study from the Journal of the Chinese Medical Association presented a 31-year-old male patient who was successfully treated with HBOT. Here at Holistic Hyperbarics, we’ve treated dozens of Lyme patients. They report decreased fatigue, increased mobility, better sleep, less joint pain, and more energy. Click here to read about Molly, one of our many Lyme success stories.
If you’re suffering from the pain and fatigue of Lyme disease, we at Holistic Hyperbarics are ready to help you get your life back. Our state-of-the art spa features knowledgeable staff, a relaxing environment, and comfortable hyperbaric chambers. We’d love to answer your questions about Lyme treatment. Give us a call for more info, and to book your first HBOT Lyme treatment.
SOURCES:
1. Staff, InformedHealth. “Tick Bites: What Are Ticks and How Can They Be Removed?” InformedHealth.org [Internet]., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 25 Apr. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279240/.
2. Staff, CDC. “Lyme Disease.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 Dec. 2019, www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html.
3. Staff, IHAUSA. “Lyme Disease & Hyperbarics.” International Hyperbarics Association, International Hyperbarics Association, 2020, www.ihausa.org/lyme.html.
4. Staff, Mayo Clinic. “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 12 Jan. 2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy/about/pac-20394380
5. Huang, Chien-Yu, et al. “Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy as an Effective Adjunctive Treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease.” ScienceDirect, Journal of the Chinese Medical Association, 13 Apr. 2014, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1726490114000422.