Q3 (Oxygen in Salons):
I have used oxygen therapy twice in a salon environment for general health purposes, as I have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and suffer from low energy and migraines. Each session lasts 20 minutes and involves the breathing of oxygen (40%) delivered through a mask with a small apparatus attached for aroma therapy. Does using commercial oxygen therapy (in salons, etc.) increase free radicals in the body, and would using such a system for headaches/migraine reduction, etc., have negative long term effects such as organ trouble and accelerated aging? Is there a balance that can be reached between the positive and negative effects of oxygen treatments received in salons?

Answer:
Under the conditions that you describe (breathing 40% oxygen [rather than the 21% available in air] twice per week), it is extremely unlikely that you would suffer any ill effects. To exert harmful effects on the lungs, for example, the concentration of oxygen would have to be at least 50% were you to breathe it at normal atmospheric pressure, and you would have to be exposed to the oxygen for far longer than is your practice. Furthermore, to exert acutely harmful effects on the central nervous system, you would likely require 100% oxygen delivered at pressures approaching or exceeding three atmospheres. So, it is indeed clear that the most serious toxic effects of oxygen free radicals are unlikely to be realized under the conditions of which you speak.

Although it truly seems that safety is not of great concern, I would also suggest that the method of administration precludes benefits to your physical condition. First, I am unaware of any convincing evidence that the delivery of oxygen at slightly elevated partial pressures in any way benefits general health (although salons and even many clinics would have you believe otherwise). Second, for the specific clinical conditions that you have cited, we certainly do not have compelling reasons to expect that oxygen thwarts chronic fatigue syndrome or plays any role in warding off migraine headaches (although some evidence suggests that hyperbaric oxygen may benefit patients during acute attacks).

An additional point for consideration pertains to the method of delivery of the oxygen to your body. Even while you are only breathing air in your favourite salon, the red blood cells in your arteries are virtually completely loaded with oxygen. The breathing of additional oxygen is therefore largely wasted effort, as your blood really does not have any extra room to carry oxygen to your tissues. A basic law of physics (i.e., Henry's Law) dictates that it is only when your body is placed under pressure that your blood acquires the ability to carry significant additional oxygen. As such, even were supplemental oxygen the key to your physical woes, breathing 40% oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure in a salon would certainly be insufficient to meet your clinical needs.

All things considered, my conclusions are as follows:

1) You will not likely be harmed by the oxygen that you breath twice weekly at the salon (unless standards pertaining to fire prevention are not observed -- remember that oxygen promotes combustion!).

2) Any benefits to your clinical/mental state that you experience in association with the breathing of salon-sized doses of oxygen are likely to be either coincidental or reflective of placebo effects.

The bottom line is that if you enjoy the sessions in the salon, feel free to indulge, as little harm is likely to come. At the same time, remember that the very thing that keeps the oxygen safe in the salon also renders it basically medically useless (again, contrary to what you are likely to hear from those vending the oxygen). With the approval of your family physician, I suspect that you will be much better off spending your 40 free minutes per week walking moderately while donning a broad hat and some good sun-screen.

Here are some links pertaining to chronic fatigue syndrome and migraine headache that you may find useful:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/cfs/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/headacheandmigraine.html