By Dr. Patrick Callas, ND, Naturopathic Medicine
Many of us think of arthritis as one of those unavoidable health conditions that can develop as we age. But the truth is, arthritis is more than just achy, swollen joints. It’s a progressive illness that can get worse with time and negatively impact nearly every aspect of daily life.
While conventional treatments for this potentially serious condition can offer temporary relief, more often than not they only put a band-aid on the problem. However, a growing body of evidence – and patient experience – is showing that ozone therapy offers a much more long-term solution to the problem or arthritis pain.
One 67-year-old client, I treated played rugby in his youth and had developed arthritis in his hands, making it difficult for him to close his or make a fist. His hands were often so inflamed that he couldn’t do even basic things like gripping a fork.
Cortisone shots are a popular way to help reduce arthritis pain, but these treatments can be expensive and painful. And long-term use of anti-inflammatories and other pain medication can lead to dependence and hurt gut biome health. Ultimately, these approaches are ineffective because they only temporarily mask arthritis symptoms and do not even begin to address the underlying causes.
My patient’s experience was no exception. He faced a never-ending cycle of pain, temporary relief. Then recurring pain. Repeat.
Using ozone therapy, we were able to target the underlying causes of my patient’s arthritis pain. And I have seen hundreds of other patients experience similar results.
Ozone therapy isn’t new – it’s been used for nearly half a century to treat arthritis and other health conditions. A landmark 2018 study published in the National Centre for Biotechnology Information’s Journal of Pain Research looked at the experiences of more than 400 patients with osteoarthritis knee pain. It found that targeted ozone injections were “significantly superior” to conventional treatments for osteoarthritis knee pain and that ozone therapy had a “more prolonged pain relief period” compared to conventional arthritis treatments.
‘Arthritis’ is actually a catch-all term used to describe more than a hundred conditions that cause pain and inflammation in the body’s joints and ligaments, two of the most common types being rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Although it affects women more than men, it doesn’t discriminate based on age, gender, race or activity level. It’s a degenerative condition that gets worse as you age.
Symptoms of arthritis can range from general stiffness and tenderness to debilitating pain and immobility, but they have a common factor – oxidative stress on the body’s joints.
Ozone – or O3 – is typically associated with the layer of gasses surrounding our planet that keeps life-giving oxygen on the earth’s surface. In a lot of ways, ozone plays a similar role in our own physical ecosystem of the body.
As we get older, we can begin to accumulate carbon monoxide within our tissues and on our nerves. This lack of oxygenation creates increasingly acidic environments that can start to injure these parts of the physical organism.
Introducing ozone via intra-articular (into the joint) injections brings oxygen to these tissues, improving blood flow to joints and lowers the body’s pH, supporting a return to our natural state of alkalinity. It also sterilizes and cleans these areas, clearing up the infections often linked to chronic illness and pain. Re-introducing oxygen to areas impacted by arthritis pain reverses much of the oxidative stress that are linked to joint degeneration and triggers health and regeneration of critical connective tissues in the joints.
The duration and frequency of treatment vary from patient to patient, depending on the nature and severity of their condition. But for my rugby patient, the pain in his hands cleared up within two treatments and his pain was significantly reduced and his hands returned to normal functioning.
My patients consistently tell me they feel noticeable results from ozone therapy, and research is increasingly backing up their experience.
With one in five Canadians diagnosed with arthritis in one form or another, it’s no surprise that most people either know someone who has this chronic pain condition or suffer from it themselves. Ozone therapy is one of the most effective and evidence-based solutions to address both the acute pain and underlying causes associated with most forms of arthritis, whether it’s in its early stages or is more advanced.
It’s worth discussing with your health practitioner how ozone therapy can help you find long-term relief and return to doing the everyday things most of us take for granted.
About Dr. Callas:
Dr. Patrick Callas is a Senior ND and focuses on treating complex chronic infections, chronic pain, cancer, anxiety & depression, and more.
