BY Alexandra Mendoza
What if there was a therapy that could treat different medical conditions by simply sitting down, relaxing, and breathing in and out?
There is. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is a natural alternative that consists of having the patient breathe pure oxygen while in a pressurized chamber.
These treatments have shown therapeutic benefits for a wide variety of medical conditions, from diabetic lesions, air/gas embolisms, and burn injuries, to chronic bone infections, attention deficit, and even skincare, to name just a few.
Although in most cases hyperbaric chambers are only available in hospital settings, the good news is that there is a company in South County that offers them to the public.
The better news is that it is not as expensive as you might think.
A little over a year ago, OxyHubs opened its doors in Chula Vista with the idea of putting this treatment within everyone’s reach. Since then, people from both sides of the border have been enjoying the benefits this treatment has to offer.
Its owners, David Gonzalez y Lydia Segura, decided to launch this project some years ago while working
at Eastlake’s Gonzalez
Sports Academy, where they discovered that hyperbaric therapy helps reduce inflammation and pain after high-performance trainings.
In fact, this alternative is commonly used by professional athletes either before or after a game, as well as a way to treat their injuries.
Having learned this, they began to look for a way for this technology to be available at an affordable price to anyone who needed it.
“We know that the people who need it sometimes cannot afford to do it”, shared co-owner David Gonzalez.
OxyHubs boasts soft, flexible chambers that can fit up to two people – usually a parent and a small child – where, as the patient breathes, pressurized oxygen is absorbed into the bloodstream through the lungs.
By breathing pure oxygen while inside the chamber, the body increases its natural capacity to recover itself.
“The body can heal itself, but sometimes it can use just a little help”, said David. “It’s nothing miraculous, it’s a natural thing”.
Eduardo Krauss, a 16-year-old young man, started this treatment to address a back injury he suffered while playing volleyball.
He initially tried massage therapy, hydrotherapy, and electrotherapy, but says that it has been the hyperbaric treatments that have made the biggest difference.
“I noticed a difference when playing; I felt less pain or even no pain at times. I have definitely felt a difference both in my day-to-day life and while playing sports”, shared the teen, who attends two sessions per week.
We were received at OxyHubs by Yasmin Davalos, an HBOT specialist with extensive health experience, who explained the process followed by each customer during treatment. She was very professional and attentive in answering all our questions.
Claudia Ballesteros is another example of someone who decided to give this therapy a try after years of suffering from sinus trouble and back pain.
Although she has only been using the chamber for two weeks, she shared that she is already seeing an improvement in both conditions that she used to manage only with pills.
What she was most surprised about is how comfortable the therapy is.
“Time just flies by! I thought it was going to be incredibly boring sitting in there (the chamber), but it wasn’t at all. You can use your phone, get some work done, check emails… you get in, sit down, and they explain the process to you step by step”, said this customer.
Although all the potential benefits of this new, innovative therapy have not been discovered yet, there already are countless testimonials from patients and family members who have used it for conditions such as autism, assuring they have seen positive results.
Osiris Gaxiola discovered that her child had this condition when he was two years old. A doctor told her that his autism was moderate, and that with therapy he could grow up and develop like any other child.
As part of the support, her son was enrolled in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) at school. It was there that she met other moms who were going through the same situation and recommended a specialist to her, whose book mentioned hyperbaric chambers as a way to help restore white blood cell counts, thus improving brain function.
On her search for a place that offered this therapy, she discovered that OxyHubs had the lowest price, and they were even willing to set up a payment plan, since her son needed 40 sessions, Osiris informed Ella South Bay magazine.
“Sebastian completed his treatment with astounding improvements”, she said to the magazine.
OxyHubs is located at 230 Glover Avenue, Suite H, in Chula Vista. For more information, details, and appointments, please call (619) 344-8383, visit OxyHubs.com.