Treating Chronic Lyme Disease and Post-Lyme Syndrome with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Post-Lyme syndrome and Chronic Lyme occur as a result of a bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme disease may involve multiple systems involving skin, joints, heart or nervous system. Even when treated properly, a percentage of patients may have ongoing neurological symptoms and experience lingering fatigue, achiness, headaches or other neurological issues.

Common symptoms

Post-Lyme Syndrome and Chronic Lyme can cause a wide range of symptoms, but common symptoms include:

• Lingering Fatigue
• Achiness
• Headaches
• Other Neurological Issues

How can hyperbaric oxygen therapy help your Post-Lyme Syndrome and Chronic Lyme?

Although deeper pressure chambers have been shown to help destroy the Lyme bacteria itself, the milder chambers may be better at improving neurological (brain) symptoms and would likely be better served for neurological issues associated with Post-Lyme symptoms once you have treated the initial bacteria. Regardless of symptoms, hyperbaric oxygen therapy may help your brain and body recover from the effects of Lyme. It’s advisable to work with the appropriate health care provider and utilize hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a part of your integrative approach, not as the primary treatment modality.

• providing abundant levels of plasma-rich oxygen to our tissue for healing
• reducing inflammation throughout our brain and body
• reducing swelling
• increasing fibroblast production which are critical to healing
• reducing scarring (fibrosis)
• increasing stem cell production for tissue repair
• improving detoxification
• increasing collagen production, which is the most abundant protein in the body and is a major contributor to the health of our joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, bone, and skin.
• increasing flexibility of joints and muscles (by stimulating the hydroxylation of proline and lysine)
• stimulating osteoblasts that are essential for new bone production and repair.
• stimulating release of growth factors such as trophic factor to enhance repair and regeneration at the cellular level.
• stimulating growth of new blood vessels to supply tissue with greater circulation and oxygen to promote repair and regeneration by releasing greater amounts of vascular endothelial growth factor
• balancing our fight or flight and relaxation and digestion systems by strengthening the health of our autonomic nervous system, impacting blood flow within our brain that leads to dizziness, headaches, slow processing, memory changes and many other symptoms
• enhancing cerebrospinal fluid flow