Do oxygen bars work for altitude sickness? The short answer is yes, oxygen bars work.
If you’re heading to an altitude of 8000 feet or more, altitude sickness symptoms can start to set in because of lower oxygen levels (hypoxia) can trigger the onset of and aggravate your acute mountain sickness (AMS).
Irisha Steele, spa director at the Rèmede Spa at The St. Regis Aspen Resort, says that about 40 percent of travelers who visit Aspen get altitude sickness. Hence, makes sense in the growing popularity of oxygen bars for altitude sickness.
In this post you’ll learn how oxygen bars work for preventing or treating high altitude sickness, how oxygen relates to altitude sickness, and other facts about oxygen bars you might be curious about.
Yes they do.
If you're traveling to a high altitude place and you're worried about altitude sickness, you might be considering using an oxygen bar as a preventive measure or as a treatment once you arrive at your destination.
In a study done in Keystone Colorado, patients that were given oxygen by facemask for two hours showed immediate relief of acute mountain sickness.² It was just as effective as for patients that simulated altitude descent, basically decreasing their altitude.
Overexposure to high altitudes changes the balance of oxygen in the body. High altitudes contain less oxygen and deprives the body from getting adequate supply of oxygen and causes symptoms of altitude sickness. Symptoms often include a variety of difficulties including headaches, fatigue, dizziness, difficulty breathing, and nausea.
To adjust to such changes, it is important that you acclimatize yourself to such changes. Thankfully, oxygen therapy exists which can help cut down your chances of altitude sickness which helps replenish oxygen being lost to allow the body to work more efficiently.
Oxygen bars are places to get oxygen therapy, where people can sit around talking while breathing flavored oxygen through their nose through tubes. The flavors may include things like peppermint, eucalyptus, lavender and pina colada.
Oxygen bars sell pure oxygen as a natural means to reduce symptoms of altitude sickness, as well as a way to boost energy and even improve the look of your skin.
Oxygen bar benefits beyond helping with altitude sickness may include:
At the Rèmede Spa at The St. Regis Aspen Resort, the oxygen room at the hotel is popular -- with 10,000 guests using it in the last year.
At The Arrabelle at Vail Square, they offer Altitude Recovery Kits ($50) -- the package includes 20 minutes of oxygen, a peppermint oil foot rub, and Zaca tablets to help combat any nausea or fatigue.
In conclusion, the bottom line is that oxygen bars can provide some relief for altitude sickness and can work best if used before you feel altitude sickness as a prevention.
Are you looking for altitude help? Try our zaca recovery chewables that compliment oxygen therapy for altitude sickness and help the body rehydrate, replenish and recover.
The customer pays a fee usually around $1 per minute for a 10-20 minute treatment of steady supply of flavored oxygen, which is delivered through a tube that fits over the nose. Oxygen bars are mainly found in larger cities and in places that get a lot of tourists, such as Las Vegas or ski resorts like Vail, Aspen, Tahoe, Salt Lake City and Breckenridge.
According to Dr. Ron Balkissoon, a pulmonologist at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver, oxygen bars first appeared in Japan, Mexico and South America as a response to growing concerns about air pollution. People in these countries were interested in breathing purified air, so oxygen bars began to pop up in major U.S. cities by the late 90s.
SOURCES:
1. Can Oxygen Bars at Ski Resorts Really Help You Beat Altitude Sickness?
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/can-oxygen-bars-at-ski-resorts-really-help-you-beat-altitude-sickness
2. Treatment of acute mountain sickness: hyperbaric versus oxygen therapy
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1928883/
