Cancer & Radiation Damage

cancer, radiation damage

Hyperbarics helps you feel alive again after surviving cancer. It helps patients have energy, restored appetite, mental clarity and even helps with depression. It is not a replacement or stand alone treatment for cancer treatment. It heals post-radiation damage inside the burned tissues and organs. Hyperbarics is utilized. It also helps relieve pain, increase appetite, and boosts energy levels in cancer patients.

  • Hyperbarics alleviates the extreme symptoms patients experience with chemo or radiation treatment; weight loss, hair loss, digestive issues, extreme pain, fatigue, immune suppression, immobility and much more.
  • ​Unfortunately, a large portion of cancer deaths are related to the side effects and symptoms from the treatments.
  • ​Cancerous cells are anaerobic, meaning they thrive in oxygen-poor environments. Research is showing that flooding cancer cells with oxygen can make them easier to kill with chemo or radiation.
  • The pressure of hyperbaric therapy can help push chemo through the body faster, leaving less time for healthy tissue to be poisoned. 
  • ​Many published studies are showing hyperbaric therapy’s ability to heal post-radiation damage inside the burned tissues and organs, reduce the inflammation and infection. 
  • ​Many patients report that their time in the chamber helps relieve pain, increase appetite, and boosts energy levels.
  • ​Hyperbaric therapy positively affects the genes involved in inflammation control and tissue repair. Anecdotes and testimonials show that some patients experience recovery even years after their initial treatment and injuries.
cancer, radiation damage

Coping with Cancer
There were an estimated 1.7 million new cancer diagnoses in the United States in 2019, according to the American Cancer Association. It is the 2nd leading cause of death within the country. There are over 100 types of cancer, affecting every organ and tissue in the body. Cancer occurs when abnormal cells divide uncontrollably, often destroying surrounding healthy cells. This cellular invasion can spread throughout the entire body, no matter where the source of the tumors begin. As these abnormal cells spread, they can deplete the body of its essential nutrients and resources, oxygen being one.

Traditional cancer treatments include surgery to remove tumors (lumps of abnormal cells or tissues that clump together), chemotherapy and radiation. Chemo and Radiation are both designed to poison the cancerous cells that have spread throughout the body. While technology is starting to get to a point where these procedures can be targeted at specific affected tissue, there is still often a lot of collateral damage done to healthy cells and tissues during the process. Many patients treated with chemo or radiation suffer extreme symptoms such as weight loss, hair loss, digestive issues, extreme pain, fatigue, immune suppression, immobility and much more.

Unfortunately, a large portion of cancer deaths are related to the side effects from the treatments.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy has gained traction as an adjunctive modality in the treatment and symptom management of cancer. Cancerous cells are anaerobic, meaning they thrive in oxygen-poor environments. Research is showing that flooding cancer cells with oxygen can make them easier to kill with chemo or radiation. Some experts also believe that the pressure of hyperbaric therapy can help push chemo through the body faster, leaving less time for healthy tissue to be poisoned. There are many published studies showing hyperbaric therapy’s ability to heal post-radiation damage inside the burned tissues and organs as well. Anecdotally, many patients report that their time in the chamber helps relieve pain, increase appetite, and boosts energy levels.

cancer, radiation damage

Here's What I've Learned

New medical research Reveals most powerful treatment yet

From: Dr. AJ Ludlow
Stronglife Physiotherapy

There is a big difference between being alive and thriving.

To me thriving means living a capable, strong, independent and exhilarating life. Thriving means avoiding debilitating illness, aches and pains. This can be a challenge as we age. Wouldn't you agree?

As the owner at Stronglife Physiotherapy I have a rare opportunity to bring revolutionary medical technology to help those working toward this kind of life. This therapy will help my patients have an unfair advantage to living a healthier life. As you'll see below, this treatment offers hope and healing for a wide range of conditions including many that don't have many other treatment options. 

See Testimonial Videos Of Patients' Experiences

Recovery For Athletes:
✅ 75% faster recovery from marathons, intense workouts, surgery, illness, weightlifting and more!
✅ Concussions, headaches, amazing for traumatic brain injury
✅ More energy, stamina, go longer, harder
✅ More mental clarity, eliminates brain fog, better focus even for ADD and autism
✅ The edge for athletes, try it a day before and after a big race!

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has helped this patient: 
✅Migraines/headaches, less intense, less of them
✅Pain relief
✅Recovery from exercise and injury
✅Helps with achy joints from aging
✅Boundless energy, feel vibrant!
✅More mental clarity, less overwhelmed
✅Relaxation, less anxious and stressed

Stroke recovery in these ways:
✅Faster recovery
✅Restore feeling and movement in affected limbs
✅Restore connectivity to muscles
✅Hair growth
✅Eliminate Lupus rash
✅Improves natural feeling and sensitivity
✅Improvements in strength
✅Improved mobility
✅Improved brain function and confidence
✅Brain fog

Using hyperbaric made a huge difference for
✅Neuropathy pain, pins and needles
✅Being able to wear shoes again, stand for extended periods of time
✅Sore feet including plantar fasciitis pain (from other patient testimonials)
✅Nerve recovery, restores natural feeling and sensitivity
✅Improved sleep quality, deeper and longer
✅ Improved quality of life

The healing power of hyperbaric medicine: One patient’s story

Julie Peissig had the perfect life. She and her husband Jeff had just built a new home. They had three beautiful children, and Julie was working her dream job.

Then came the diagnosis. Breast cancer. Her perfect life was thrown into chaos. Dreams about the future became fear that she wouldn’t have a future.

But Julie is a fighter, and her diagnosis was just the start of her story. After receiving radiation therapy to help kill the cancer, Julie developed an open wound on her chest that refused to heal.

Eventually, Julie’s care team decided hyperbaric medicine was an option to help her wound heal. It was a long and grueling process. Julie spent two hours nearly every day for a year inside of a hyperbaric chamber. But over time, the wound began to heal. 

“It was like a miracle was happening right before my eyes,” Julie said. Watch Julie’s extraordinary story here.

About Our "Stronglife" Hyperbaric Oxygen Clinic

About Dr. AJ Ludlow, DPT

About Dr. AJ Ludlow, DPT

Dr. AJ Ludlow is passionate about finding the most innovative ways to keep his patients from being in pain and struggling with debilitating disease for years. He wants to bring the best medical technology the world can offer to the state he loves and the people he wants most to help.

A California native, but has lived a total of 15+ years in Utah between receiving his undergraduate at Brigham Young University and his doctorate at the University of Utah, he now calls Utah his home!

He has traveled and researched extensively to find the most effective solutions for injury and pain. What someone would have once had to travel outside the US for, is now available right here in Provo, UT. 

Dr AJ Ludlow Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Provider in Provo Utah, stronglife physiotherapy AJ ludlow doctor of physical therapy physical therapist in provo Orem utah

Frequently Asked Questions

What type of hyperbaric chamber do you use?
We use soft chambers that reach 1.3 atmospheres of pressure. This is considered mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy and has several advantages over hard chambers. When it comes to pressure with HBOT, more is not necessarily better. Most chronic or non-emergency conditions respond better to lower pressures. You still get a healing dose of oxygen and pressure without the higher risks that come with higher pressure chambers. It is much more affordable than hard chamber sessions and it is even available for home use for those who have a hard time coming into the office for the recommended number of treatments.   
 
Am I a good candidate if my Doctor doesn’t think it will help?
A study found that 75% of medical schools offer little to no education on hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Most doctors have very limited understanding of hyperbarics. A practitioner with specialized knowledge of hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be better suited to answer your questions. When you consider how safe, natural and powerful hyperbarics can be, it is worth doing more research and seeking a second opinion from a knowledgeable practitioner. Many doctors who do educate themselves on hyperbaric oxygen therapy end up being very supportive and even change their practice of medicine to offer it. 
 
How does hyperbaric oxygen therapy help? 
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy delivers up to 3x the normal amount of oxygen throughout the body. This helps with healing, reducing inflammation, energy production, digestion, detoxification, concentration, recovery, etc. Many parts of the body do not receive sufficient oxygen, are damaged, or “turned off” because of an illness, or injury. For example tendons do not receive as much blood flow as muscles and are often more likely to be injured or strained. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy gets more oxygen to all parts of the body, reawakening cells, such as brain cells after a stroke, or heart cells after a heart attack. It gives the body a huge advantage to heal, repair and regenerate itself. As a result of the increased oxygen, the part of every cell in your body that produces energy (mitochondria) becomes stronger and more efficient, many negative symptoms from health conditions and aging disappear, and you have more energy and mental clarity. The more sessions you do, the more these changes become permanent. It positively affects your DNA and can turn some negative DNA markers off and turn positive ones on. For example, eliminating many allergic reactions and even putting some diseases into remission.
 
Does insurance cover hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is FDA approved, covered by insurance, for 14 conditions, even though many other conditions benefit from this treatment. It is used for over 200 different conditions in other countries with extensive research supporting its use. If hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used for any condition other than the 14 approved conditions it will be considered “off label’ and therefore not covered by insurance companies. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a regenerative treatment and insurance companies, unfortunately, have a bad track record of covering regenerative medicine. The FDA approved conditions are: air embolism, gas embolism, acute traumatic ischemia, burns, carbon monoxide poisoning, smoke inhalation, diabetic foot ulcers, exceptional blood loss, decompression sickness, gas gangrene, necrotizing infections, severe anemia, skin grafts and flaps and wound healing. If you have one of the FDA approved conditions it is recommended that you seek care at a facility that can bill insurance for the treatment. 
 
Is hyperbaric oxygen safe? 
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is extremely safe, especially the type offered at Stronglife. Our chamber goes to 1.3 ATM which is the equivalent pressure of being 10 feet under water. We also provide supplemental oxygen directly to you through a nasal cannula instead of pressurizing the entire chamber with 100%. This means there is no risk of oxygen toxicity and no risk of a small spark causing a fire or explosion, with higher pressure and higher oxygen levels the risks go up. 
 
The main risk with any form of hyperbaric oxygen treatment is the (small) risk of damage to the ear drums. While the chamber is being pressurized, you will notice pressure building in the ears (similar to when on a plane or when under water). It is important to be able to equalize the pressure in your ears by yawning, pinching your nose and swallowing or pinching your nose while yawning. Most people are easily able to equalize the pressure. We will be standing by the whole time to assist with the process, and can pause the chamber or release pressure for those few who have a difficult time. 
 
While the majority of people notice they feel better after their HBOT session, there is at times a detox reaction also known as a Herxheimer reaction. This can result in flu-like symptoms including body aches, mild fever, fatigue, nausea or other symptoms. This is caused when harmful microorganisms die off and move towards elimination in the body. While this can be an unpleasant experience it is actually a good thing because the treatment is helping the body excrete these harmful mircoorganisms from the body like Lyme bacteria, Epstein-Barr Virus, mold toxins and others. After several treatments these symptoms will fade and are replaced by higher energy levels and a greater feeling of wellbeing. 
 
 
Does hyperbaric oxygen therapy interact with medications: 
Very few medications are of concern (listed below).
Bleomycin
Cisplatin
Doxorubicin
Sulfamylon
Disulfiram
Mafernide Acetate
 
Can I do hyperbaric oxygen therapy if I am claustrophobic: 
Yes, we are standing by the entire time to turn off the chamber and let you out at a moment's notice. We have had many claustrophobic patients do the full treatment reporting afterwards that they had a pleasant experience and felt quite relaxed. The hyperbaric oxygen stimulates a relaxation response in the body, and most just read, use their phones or take a nap. Most are also surprised by how roomy the chamber feels on the inside. 
 
What does it feel like to do hyperbaric oxygen therapy? 
When asked, patients relate that it is a very relaxing experience. Before you get in we recommend using the bathroom. Then you remove any sharp objects from your pockets and remove your shoes. You climb into the chamber, it is on a platform, for those who have a hard time getting down on the floor. You will have an oxygen tube feeding oxygen directly to your nose.You lie down and relax on a thick pad and pillows. In the first 5 minutes the chamber comes up to pressure during which time you clear your ears multiple times, like when you are on an airplane or going over a summit while driving. After that, you’ll hear fresh air coming in and going out, like white noise. Many patients can sit up if they choose, but most prefer to lay down and relax. The last 5 minutes when it is depressurizing, you can feel some mild pressure on your ears, but most don’t even need to clear or “pop” their ears. Once it has depressurized, we unclasp it and you climb out. Most patients say they feel very relaxed afterward, “like walking on a cloud all day, “ chronic pain patients have told us, “it was the first time in months I wasn’t in pain.” There is no downtime, no need to take off work, you can immediately resume your normal activities. 
 
Are there times it is not advised to do hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
For the following situations, it is not recommended.
Untreated Pneumothorax (punctured lung)
Serious sinus congestion
Sickle Cell Anemia
High Fever
Hereditary Spherocytosis
COPD
Pregnancy
 
For any questions not addressed here please call or text us, we are happy to answer your specific questions regarding your unique health concerns.
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