Home Oxygen Therapy
Home Oxygen Therapy
Home oxygen therapy involves breathing in air that contains more oxygen than normal from a cylinder or machine in your home. With the strain being placed on hospitals due to the COVID-19 outbreak, home therapy is more important than ever, especially if your health is already compromised.
ATTENTION! Oxygen therapy must only be used as prescribed by your physician.
How home oxygen therapy can help
If you have a health condition that causes low levels of oxygen in your blood, you may feel breathless and tired, particularly after walking or coughing. Fluid may also build up around your ankles.
Breathing air with oxygen increases the amount of oxygen in your blood.
This makes it easier to carry out activities that might otherwise be difficult, and helps reduce your symptoms.
Oxygen therapy also helps prevent damage to the heart and brain, which can be caused by low levels of oxygen in the blood.
It can help people with a range of health conditions, such as:
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- pulmonary fibrosis
- heart failure
- obesity-related hypoventilation
- severe long-term asthma
- pulmonary hypertension
- conditions affecting the nerves and muscles or ribcage
- cystic fibrosis
People who have oxygen therapy have different requirements. For example, you may only need oxygen for short periods during the day when you're walking about, or you may need it for longer periods during the day and night.
Large oxygen cylinders
One method of delivering home oxygen is with refillable cylinders. This is a good option for occasional use or as a back-up in case of power failure. Cylinders are heavy to move around, require refilling and expensive in the long term.
Oxygen concentrator machine
An oxygen concentrator machine is suitable if you'd benefit from having oxygen for many hours a day, including while you're asleep. It ensures you have a source of oxygen that never runs out.
The Natural Ozone range of oxygen concentrators filter oxygen from the air in the room and deliver it through plastic tubes to a mask or nasal cannula.
Long tubing can be fixed around the floor or skirting board of your house, with two points where you can "plug in" to the oxygen supply. The machine is very quiet and compact.
Going on holiday
The Natural Ozone portable oxygen concentrators can be transported in your luggage. Please ensure that you bring a suitable power adaptor if visiting another country.
Safety advice
Oxygen is a fire hazard, so you need to take precautions if you're using oxygen at home.
Always check with your GP before starting with oxygen therapy, they will prescribe how much and how often to breathe oxygen based on your individual health requirements and your blood oxygen levels.