An Overview of Ozone Therapy:
**Disclaimer** This article includes pictures of my own blood being drawn and treated, if you don’t like that kind of stuff, please look away 🙂
When I first read about Ozone (O3) I was amazed at some of the benefits the therapy had to offer. In fact, I thought for sure this was a newly approved, cutting edge offering from my doc’s office. However, it turns out that ozone therapy has been around for over 150 years and has been used to treat wounds, infections, and various diseases. A quick Google search on “Ozone Therapy” will give you a wide range of results that range from “warning danger!” to “miracle therapy”. The FDA doesn’t currently approve the use of ozone therapy in the treatment of disease and has stated that ozone has “no known useful medical application” and that there aren’t enough large long-term studies to understand all potential adverse effects… However, researchers do believe it has many therapeutic effects and medicinal purposes. In fact, clinical use has shown its effects to be proven, consistent, and safe with minimal (or preventable) side effects.
How does it work?
Ozone therapy is based on introducing Ozone (O3) into the body through multiple methods and typically involves mixing the gas with other compounds like liquids or blood. Ozone can be administered through injections (intramuscular or subcutaneously), IV (directly to the veins), insufflation (air) via the ear canal, vaginally or rectally, and even through the skin via bagging, cupping, and more. Arguably the most potent therapy used to date is autohemotherapy, where blood is drawn and mixed with ozone (and sometimes UV light) then reintroduced into the body through IV delivery.
At this point you are probably thinking… “Hey, some of those treatment options sound pretty unpleasant, what makes Ozone therapy so desirable?” Well for starters Ozone is a powerful antioxidant and can help eliminate toxins from the body. In addition, ozone is effective at eliminating pathogens/bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc. and is great at stimulating and strengthening the immune system. IV ozone therapy has been well-documented and used to treat chronic infections, wounds, Lyme Disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, ulcerative colitis, lupus, and many other diseases! Ozone has been specifically used for those with autoimmunity to not only achieve symptomatic reduction but also to address root causes of illness (like viral load, Lyme Disease, toxins, you name it). The effectiveness of this therapy seems to be mostly attributed to the fact that Ozone is a powerful immunomodulator (adjusts the immune system to the right level, either ramping it up or calming it down) as well as viral load reduction. Just for clarity, having a lower viral load basically means that less of a particular virus is present in our bodies and thus with lower loads, we can improve our overall health 🙂
Personal Experience
I’ve been using Ozone therapy off and on for several years now. Ever since my initial diagnosis with Chronic Lyme Disease in 2017 I have undergone over 30 blood ozone (autohemotherapy) treatments and have bought my own home Ozone unit. During my first round of treatments I noticed significant reduction in Lyme symptoms and even some remission in my Ulcerative Colitis symptoms. In fact, it was one of the only times I was able to live a pretty normal life (without use of any antibiotics or any other therapies at all). Overall, the biggest benefits to me was the significant reduction in my daily bathroom trips, as well as the amount of energy I gained. At the time of my first round off therapy, my wife and I joined a gym and were working out pretty regularly (rather than just sitting around all afternoon and night feeling tired and fatigued).
So why did I quit, you ask? Well, at the time my job wasn’t paying as much as it is now and we had lots of health bills to pay off. Plus my wife and I were getting closer to start trying for our first baby and we didn’t know how much to sink into the therapy itself. Over the course of my 30 sessions I probably spent over 3K out of pocket (since Ozone is not typically covered under health insurance plans). In order to save money long term, I invested in a home Ozone unit or a “block” and got a prescription for an oxygen tank. It’s not all that fancy actually, the personal home ozone unit just converts oxygen into ozone for rectal insufflation. It seemed like a novel idea at the time (get long term Ozone for about $900), even though rectal Ozone is a bit less effective than the autohemotherapy. And don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s worth it, but unfortunately, it’s not all that fun to inject air into your rump every night….. and because of that I don’t use it as often as I should, since it’s not the most pleasant modality.
Is Ozone right for you?
I think it all comes down to where you are in your healing journey. I don’t know if you will get your bang for your buck if Ozone is the first thing you are trying (or maybe you will, it all depends). Some doctors might argue that it can be more important to build foundational wellness with supplements like vitamin D3, a proper multivitamin, and natural anti-inflammatories first, then add Ozone therapy for additional benefits. Plus, you need to think about cost (unless you have some money to burn). While Ozone isn’t the most expensive therapy around, it can add up overtime if you need a lot of sessions. Just to give some perspective… sessions can range from $40 for rectal and vaginal insufflation therapies to $175 or more per intravenous treatments (autohemotherapy). Home units/blocks can be a super affordable long term option, especially if you stand to gain direct benefit from vaginal or rectal insufflation (like in the treatment of IBD or other localized inflammation). But Ozone insufflation can take a little longer to get into your system and require a certain level of… dedication.
In general, I think Ozone is a powerful therapy that can help A LOT of people with all kinds of ailments. I myself am undergoing another round of Ozone (in 2021) and might add a series on my experiences as I work through the process. Before you go off and try Ozone for yourself, please talk with your medical practitioner if you choose to pursue this therapy. If you have any experience with Ozone or any thoughts on the therapy as a whole, let me know in the comments below!
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