Altitude sickness is a scary thing to happen while you're on vacation. You're all set, bags are packed and ready to go, but the altitude sickness that comes with your arrival can be terrifying.
Outside of altitude adjustment supplements and high altitude pills, one of the other most marketed ways to treat altitude sickness is using oxygen canisters. However, the effectiveness of using bottled oxygen is still a point of discussion for many people. While some swear by it, some say that it doesn't work at all. The following guide will help you understand does canned oxygen help altitude sickness as well as address the common misconceptions associated with it.
Altitude sickness, which is more accurately called acute mountain sickness (AMS), is an illness that can affect mountain climbers, hikers, skiers, or travelers at high elevation. It most commonly occurs at altitudes above 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) due to lower oxygen levels called hypoxia.
Many people think that supplemental oxygen is the same thing as canned oxygen. It's not.
Supplemental oxygen or oxygen tanks are a medical treatment for people whose breathing is impaired due to illness or injury. Canned oxygen is purified air that contains a higher-than-normal concentration of oxygen.
You may also wonder do oxygen bars work for altitude sickness? Oxygen bars are considered more of a supplemental oxygen using an oxygen tank and face mask, than it is like canned oxygen.
Canned oxygen is typically found in an aerosol form, which means it's sprayed from the canister instead of inhaled from a tube. It is typically pure ambient oxygen up that 95% that has been pressurized, and the spray gives users a direct shot of oxygen into their bodies.
When you travel to high altitudes they say keeping some canned oxygen on hand in case they're faced with altitude sickness. And using the canned oxygen periodically during your high altitude trip.
However, experts say that using canned oxygen shouldn't be the first option. Instead, they suggest acclimatizing by resting or sleeping at lower altitudes if possible or taking it easy when making the ascent (if traveling by foot). As an alternative to canned oxygen, for extreme hikes and climbing people choose to use supplement oxygen with a face mask and tank that deliver continuous oxygen.
Many athletes and hikers swear by it, but does canned oxygen really help with altitude sickness? Can it prevent altitude sickness?
Oxygen deprivation can cause a variety of symptoms, including shortness of breath, headache fatigue, confusion, dizziness and even unconsciousness. These are the signs of altitude sickness.
The air we breathe contains only 21% oxygen — and that's at sea level. As you climb higher up a mountain, the air pressure drops and so does the amount of oxygen in each breath.
Canned oxygen is marketed as a way to relieve altitude sickness by providing more oxygen when you're not able to breath it in from the atmosphere.
Although these findings show supplemental oxygen and oxygen tanks can be effective altitude sickness prevention, it's still unclear if a small canned oxygen does the same trick. Evidence shows it can help aerobic exercise, but the science is still out if canned oxygen can help altitude sickness.
There are many anecdotal stories of people using supplemental oxygen to help with altitude sickness, but there's no definitive research that shows how well it works. That means you'll have to make up your own mind about whether canned oxygen is worth bringing along.
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SOURCES:
1. Supplemental oxygen and hyperbaric treatment at high altitude: cardiac and respiratory response
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17571664/
2. Physiological Effects of Supplemental Concentrated Oxygen in VO2 Kinetics During Steady-State Exercise
https://f.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/7319401/Physiological%20Effects%20of%20Supplemental%20Concentrated%20Oxygen%20in%20VO2%20Kinetics%20During%20Steady-State%20Exercise-1.pdf
3. Effect of high altitude (7,620 m) exposure on glutathione
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11320641/
