Day 8 & Hyberbaric Oxygen Treatment

Day 8

It has to be said, the last 8 days have drifted by much quicker than I was expecting. I've not even been particularly bored. I guess it's not so bad to be waited on hand and foot by the parents...

I've got through 3 books:

1. 9 out of 10 climbers make the same mistakes. Dve Macleod
2. Revelations. Jerry Moffatt & Niall Grimes
3. The Meaning of Sport. Simon Barnes.

I might even write some mini-reviews if I get bored.

Tomorrow I get my staples and stitches out, and get to see the physio to get my hinged knee brace fitted. I'm quite happy with the progress so far. The swelling on my calve and ankle have come down by 3.5cm and 2.5cm respectively. I'm off the painkillers and considering stopping the diclofenac tomorrow. I've been using some fairly experimental treatment: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

Once a day, for about 60 minutes a session, I've been getting zipped into one of the only home hyperbaric oxygen treatment devices in the UK. Basically, the "tube" gets pressurised up to 1.5 bar (i.e. 1.5 x atmospheric pressure) and the inhabitant breathes ~95% oxygen through a mask.

 If this all sounds a bit strange, well, it is!

The aim of the treatment is to reduce inflammation and stimulate the regrowth of the damaged tissue in my knee. The second process is the promotion of growth of new bone, collagen and blood supply to the ligament grafts and bone tunnels.

The reason we have one in our house is because my dad has serious rheumatoid arthritis and has tried every damn treatment under the sun, none of which worked and some of which made his health significantly worse! Rheumatoid arthritis can cause debilitating lung damage (whether or not it's the illness or the drugs that are the cause is debatable, anyway, I digress...) and his lungs currently function at about 42% and he is on supplemental oxygen 24 hours a day.

At the rheumatology clinic he attends, he is the only patient who has not got significantly worse year on year since the start of the hyperbaric treatment. In some tests he has actually improved, which is practically unheard off. Oh, and he's not using any of the usual anti-inflammatories or immuno-suppressants that are normally prescribed and has cut down to a near homeopathic dose of 5mg/day of steroids. (He was previously on 30mg/day).

So, the upshot of all this is, I have access to the treatment at home. Unfortunately there has not been a great deal of research on the use, partly due to the fact "Big Pharma" (the massively wealthy and influential drug companies) pay for most of the UK's fundamental research and they have no intention of financing it.

Anyway, one recent piece of research, Effects of hyperbaric oxygen treatment on tendon graft and tendon-bone integration in bone tunnel: Biochemical and histological analysis in rabbits, concluded:

Experimental results demonstrated that a higher number of Sharpey's fibers bridged the newly formed fibrocartilage and graft in the HBO group than in the control group. In addition, HBO treatment increased neovascularization and enhanced the incorporation of the progressive interface between tendon graft and bone. Biomechanical analysis showed that the HBO group achieved higher maximal pullout strength than the control group. Examination by EM showed that HBO treatment resulted in regenerated collagen fibers with increased compaction and regularity. Based on experimental results, HBO treatment is a treatment modality that potentially improves outcome following ACL reconstruction.

I really hope more research is done in this area, as it seems very promising, is very safe and, if implemented properly around the UK could help lots of people, and save the NHS a whack of money on drugs.

Here's the link to the paper:

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/114110845/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Andy, if that doesn't work...  http://lmgtfy.com/?q=effects+of+hyperbaric+oxygen+treatment+on+rabbits+acl+wiley&l=1