I'm very excited because Yas and I just came back from a scouting mission and it turns out that there's a government-sponsored, very large and professional hyperbaric chamber open to the public 20 minutes away from where we live, and the sessions are also quite cheap!
Here are a couple of pictures:
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We spoke with the doctor about Yas taking some sessions first, since she does have some health issues that need to be taken care of, and he sounded very knowledgeable but flexible as well. We were concerned that we would be met with bureaucratic blocks that would not let us make use of it, but apparently you just need a check up by the doc so he can see you aren't among the few people for whom it's counter-indicated, he needs to know about your condition, and you're good to go. Towards the end of our chat I asked him if they also had sportsmen, or if it was strictly for people with some illness, and he said they had had professional boxers and tri-athletes, etc. So I asked if I could do it too - that I didn't really have any illness, except for some mild occasional pains here and there, and he said it was ok!
He stresses that you must have at least 10 sessions in a row. If you need more, after the first 10 you are reassessed.
Regarding prices. He explained that a social worker checks your individual socio-economic situation and decides how much to charge based on that. There are three tiers:
1. 355 pesos per session (17 US dollars!
)
2. 1200 pesos (58.60 USD)
3. 1800 pesos (88 USD)
But that they always try to give the cheaper price to everyone, so almost everyone pays tier 1 anyway!
Overall I found him very professional. He explained that the usual pressure they use is 2 ATA, but that for neurological conditions they use less pressure (which is consistent with what we've read in the articles). That you are constantly monitored during the session, and if you aren't feeling well, they can get you out half way through the session, since they have an ante-chamber (or that's what I understood). They also check you every session before and afterwards to see that your vitals are all good.
The chamber is not usually used to max capacity. It fits 12 people but today they had only six. He wants to promote it, because local people don't go in there much, but he does have patients being referred from hospitals in other towns and even from abroad (*hint*). And also because the government is thinking of taking teh chamber away to an oil rig. So before they do that, we plan to make use of it.
Yas may think of other interesting things to add to this report. For now, as I told the doctor, it seems to me a genuine miracle that there is one such thing right there, very accessible and affordable to us - especially because there are at least two people among us who could really benefit from it! We'll report again once we have the actual experience.