One of our friendly VRAI Health Staff will assist you in stepping into the oxygen chamber and ensure you are in a comfortable, reclined position. The chamber is fitted with a mattress and pillow for your comfort and relaxation.
Next you will be handed a new oxygen mask for your personal mask only. You will be asked to place the mask over your nose and mouth and breathe normally. You will also be given a walkie talkie so that our staff can communicate with you at any point during the therapy to ensure your wellbeing and comfort.
Once you are ready the chamber will be zipped and sealed in order for pressurisation to begin. It will take a few moments for the chamber to fully inflate and pressurise. During this time you may experience some discomfort in your ears similar to being on a plane. To equalise this pressure simply pinch your nose, close your mouth and gently attempt to exhale through your nose. We will check on you during this pressurisation period so if you are experiencing any discomfort please let our staff know.
Once the chamber pressure has reached approximately 30 kilopascals (which you will be able to see on the gauge from the inside of the chamber) it will begin to release air to stabilise the pressure and you will hear a hissing sound throughout the rest of the therapy – this is completely normal.
If for any reason you needed to let yourself out of the chamber during therapy you simply open the valve next to the pressure gauge to release the air and wait for the pressure to drop back down to 10 kilopascals. However, this will not be necessary but does provide some people with peace of mind.
During the therapy most people feel extremely relaxed (some even drift off to sleep) and quite light and tingly within the body.
The session will last for a duration of 45 minutes. Once your session is up our staff will notify you via the walkie talkie that it is time to depressurise. The pressure valve will be opened and during this time the hissing sound will become louder as the air is being released. You may need to equalise your ears again as the pressure decreases. Once the pressure gauge has dropped down back down to 10 kilopascals the chamber will be opened and you will be assisted to slowly and carefully step out.