To ask if anyone knows about using an oxygen canister at home - bought off internet and love to know how people use and what results you get

[loveyouradvice]

Hi - this is a new world for me.

I've just had an operation and am not healing as fast as they would hope - wound site still inflamed.

And I gather oxygen in the blood helps! So I bough a canister off the internet from a reputable company and have been breathing in 10 breathes twice a day.

Does anyone on here use oxygen canisters for anything? I gather people use for sport? feeling tired? other stuff?

Three questions:

1. How do you use it
2. What sort of results do you get
3. And have you heard of people using it to help them heal?

We use them in the care home I work at, not bought of the internet, obviously. In a care home setting they're classed as dangerous due to their high explosive potential. We have to have all sorts of training/procedures in place to manage them as well as warning signs on the doors and the fire brigade keeps a database of which rooms have oxygen canisters.

I really, really, wouldn't buy one online and use them without professional advise.

If you are having to ask on here, you shouldn’t be buying and treating yourself with medical devices bought on the internet.

You may have problems with house insurance ... may even void it!

If you are fit and well there is plenty of oxygen in your blood when you breathe room air. I’m not sure that it is a reputable company as oxygen is usually only used in very specific conditions. Have you let the fire service know that you have such a potentially dangerous gas in the house

oh OP this seems like a veeeeery bad idea!

Is this actually a thing? It seems incredibly dangerous.

Aside from the explosion risk, most healthy people will have an oxygen saturation of about 97-100% anyway, so there’s not very much room for improvement, especially if you’re only breathing it in every now and then.

You will need to let the fire service and your home insurance know you have oxygen in the house. Keep it away from any flames. Breathing in oxygen twice a day will do nothing to help your wound heal, as you breathe in oxygen every time you take a breath anyway. My advice would be to ask the company to come and collect the cylinder, then rest and keep your wound clean and dry to help it heal.

Seriously?! Utter rubbish!

Unless your oxygen levels are low (and if they were you’d either still be in hospital or the hospital would have organised home oxygen therapy) then this will serve no benefit at all. Too much oxygen is bad for you and is some medical conditions can cause very serious problems. If you’re concerned you have post op complications relating to breathing/wound-healing then you should see a doctor and get proper medical advice.

I’m afraid you’ve just wasted your money. (DOI: anaesthetics/ICU doctor).

I hope a nurse will come along with the proper science in a minute but I think it's probably a very, very, VERY bad idea to self administer oxygen without a hospital organising it for you. Please store the canister somewhere safe, millions of miles from any open flames and ask a GP/the hospital before touching it again.

Eh???? You bought O2 off the internet???! I've never heard of that! Usually has to be via GP and clear directions etc never heard of it for wound healing either. Usually for end stage heart failure or COPD/pulmonary fibrosis?!
You learn something every day I guess

Why on earth are you buying medical oxygen to use at home without medical advice? Have you read the NHS safety instructions for keeping cylinders/using oxygen at home? I'm gobsmacked tbh.

Ps and I'm a nurse 😭

That's very dangerous op. Oxygen is classed as a drug in the NHS and requires a prescription. When individuals get too much it can kill like any other drug.

Im a wound care nurse, never heard of oxygen therapy for wound healing.
Have you seen your GP about the redness? It's more likely that you have an infection that is delaying healing, in that case, you need anti biotics NOT oxygen.
Also as others have said, oxygen can be dangerous if taken when not needed. It's a controlled drug in hospital and has to be prescribed in all but emergency situations.
And as for the fire/explosion risk....

Ffs we nearly had to take LO home in o2 , that would involve the fire service and like a PP said , consider the insurance

You must be having a laugh Op

The science is basically that if you have a chronic lung condition your brain gets used to managing on low levels. Then when you give it higher levels your brain - respiratory centre counter responds and slows breathing- resulting in death!

How can you guarantee that it's safe and not from a dodgy source? Ivan imagine your O2 says are fine anyway so can't see how it'll help. How are you going to dispose of the canister?

Why would you go online and buy oxygen from some dodgy website.

You clearly have no idea how potentially dangerous it can be and what you're supposed to do with it?

Might be a good idea to talk to someone who knows about the disposal of these things and get help to get rid of it.

This is why as a nurse you do not administer nebulisers through high level oxygen. I can't believe anyone would sell or buy this online!!

Is this actually a real thing??

www.nhs.uk/conditions/home-oxygen-treatment/

This is the NHS advice about having O2 treatment at home. They inform the fire service and your electricity supplier that you're going to have it.

It has safety advice, I would advise to read it OP until you can safely dispose of it tomorrow. I would call your local pharmacy and ask them for advice about disposal.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy may help

I had oxygen at home and the fire brigade had to come and do a safety check and advise me on where and how to store and use it. I don't know how dangerous it actually is but be careful, and maybe get the fire brigade round.

OK not for you & not in this case this way
Long ago I remember in hospital nurses using the mask on pressure sores - directly on them not inhaling the oxygen & only under doctors orders. You have no idea if the canister & the joins & the mask are whole or connected correctly -it only wants you using a charger with a slight spark or a slightly faulty light switch or a bit of static or someone lighting up gas or a cigarette or those blinking e cigarettes & you will have a nice deep hole where you & your house were - for gods sake return the blinking thing

All the key things have been said already but simply:

1. hyperbaric oxygen (only available in certain situations in specialist hospitals) is used for wound healing in certain situations
2. oxygen can have negative as well as positive effects and should be prescribed for medical use
3. there are dangers including fire risks with compressed oxygen
4. delayed healing may be due to infection/other issues and should be highlighted to your medical team/GP for advice about management