Symptoms of arthritis, fibromyalgia, or lyme disease can subside with the use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The oxygen therapy reduces swelling and inflammation throughout the body. It is a whole body treatment; therefore, is commonly used for whole body conditions such as fibromyalgia or lyme disease.
Several studies have found a positive effect using hyperbaric oxygen therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. Researchers found it to be a superior treatment and that it may actually inhibit the disease’s development.
People have seen results using hyperbaric treatments for fibromyalgia. Although it is a fairly new treatment for fibromyalgia patients, medical researchers studying the treatment for this disease found fibromyalgia patients who received HBOT reported a decreased number of tender points and an increased pain threshold. In fact, after 15 sessions, the patients recorded half the number of original tender points and twice their original pain threshold. Those patients who received the placebo treatment recorded no improvements.
Researchers have also studied using hyperbaric oxygen treatment to treat lyme disease. William Fife, Ph.D. at Texas A&M University, treated 91 patients with lyme disease with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Of the 91 patients, 85% of those treated showed significant improvement.