You can read an organisation by the quality of its people, the rapport they create with customers, and the buy-in they have to the core service. In this regard, OxyGeneration is setting high standards.
For the last four years, OxyGeneration has been operating in Galway and is frequented by people from all walks of life — from those needing healing from radiation treatments or long Covid to the fittest of elite sportsmen and sportswomen, eager to get themselves back in peak condition.
Central to the success of OxyGeneration is that ability to get people to have a leap of faith, to reassure and convince people that sessions in the chamber will help get their health and lives back in order.
OxyGeneration's founder Brian Lynch is a living em,bodiment of positivity for the success of the service, but he is ably supported by a talented team of driven individuals, all empathetic and encouraging.
Clinic assistant Sinead Keaveny started with OxyGeneration in 2018, coming from the beauty industry, but she is wowed by the fulfilment she gets from creating and maintaining a rapport with clients.
“I hadn’t known about OxyGeneration so I came in with a very open mind. I did my research and was intrigued by the service. I have found that I love building up the rapport with clients, hearing their success stories, allaying all their concerns about what is a new departure for almost all of them.
“We have clients across the whole age range from children to people in their nineties and others with long Covid and sports injuries.
“People when they ring initially compare this service to going for an MRI, when the hear about the Chamber, but there is no comparison. Our chamber is the size of a small jet.
"We double the air pressure in the chamber and you put on an oxygen mask. You sit down and for an hour, you are breathing in almost 100 per cent oxygen, and because your body is under the extra pressure in the chamber, it is able to get up to 700 per cent more oxygen than it normally would be.
"Oxygen is getting to tissues and areas that are usually starved of oxygen. When we simplify it like that, people’s concerns are allayed and they appreciate the support.
"We bring the client into the chamber and we sit them down and we go step by step what is going to happen. We apply the mask and they get to experience what it will be like during the session. Initially, it is all about reassurance, we can hear them and they can hear us. They can see out to us as well, so they are always in contact.
"You can go into the chamber, you get a stool and a cushion and a sweet to deal with the pressure in the ears. You can bring in your mobile phone, your laptop. You can work away in there. There are David Attenborough videos playing on the TV screen in there is you want to watch those or you can listen to relaxing music.
Clinic without a clinical feel
“We do all this because even though we are a clinic, we don’t want to have that clinic feel in what we give to the clients,” she said.
Sinead said that there has been a great demand for the service from people who are feeling the impact of long Covid, that has hampered their ability to exercise and do the tasks they would have done effortlessly before they contracted Covid -19. 35 per cent of their clients at the moment are those suffering the impact of Long Covid.
“We have young people in who would have run 10k before they got Covid and it wouldn’t take any impact on them and then they got Covid and it wiped them, and they find it an effort to walk.
“So the results we have seen from them, after they have a series oif sessions with OxyGeneration, have been really rewarding and they are reporting massive improvements in how they feel and how they can get their lives back together after Covid.
Some of the more common long Covid symptoms include a lasting cough, fatigue, aches and pains, brain fog, loss of taste, loss of sense of smell, and insomnia.
Current treatments for long Covid currently focus on managing the symptoms and improving quality of life. One recommended treatment for long Covid is hyperbaric oxygenation. Users of hyperbaric oxygenation are reporting relief for a wide range of long Covid symptoms.
They are reporting better quality sleep, more energy, relief from pain, improved sense of smell and/or taste, and improved concentration after a series of sessions. Hyperbaric oxygenation is proven to help reduce inflammation, and encourage new blood vessel growth and stem cell production.
Sinead said that for herself and her colleague Stephanie, the impact of seeing clients tell them their recovery stories is very rewarding.
“The feeling is fantastic. We see the testimonials from our clients who say they have found OxyGeneration life changing.
Sinead feels that the inspiration behind OxyGeneration, its founder Brian Lynch is key to the trust in the concept.
“Brian’s story of his recovery from serious injury after using a hyperbaric chamber is an inspiration. I love telling clients Brian’s personal story about his riding accident and how he was confined to a wheelchair and faced being mobility limited for his foreseeable future, but that he did his research of other non-invasive therapies.
"He found out about hyperbaric oxygenation in Dublin, and after a series iof sessions, he made a full recovery.
“After that, because of his trust in it, he brought it to Galway. He is is so generous with his time and with his interest in people, which comes across in his dealing with clients and with staff.
Brian wanted to provide a private, world-class hyperbaric oxygenation service in Galway, that was more accessible and less expensive. This led to the opening of OxyGeneration at Merchant’s Road — a high tech chamber with a welcoming staff and a great sense of positivity.
“Getting the message out there has been our mission in the past while," said Sinead.
"We are using media including the Galway Advertiser to inform people of what OxyGeneration is and how it can benefit people. We do this by allowing a platform through which clients can tell their stories of recoveries.
Sports injuries
"We have a wide range of sportsmen and women who avail of our chamber to aid in their injury recovery. I can be watching a match on a Sunday and seeing an injury and know that it will need a session that week," she joked.
Surgeons and physiotherapists at the Sports Surgery Clinic had been referring GAA and rugby players to the chamber in Dublin for years to help speed up their recovery from surgery and tissue injuries.
Hyperbaric oxygenation also fights infection, reduces inflammation and by healing injured tissue, reduces pain. It works with the body to help it heal itself.
"Once known, players opt for OxyGeneration as part of their recovery plan as it reduces the need for opioids, steroids, and other anti-inflammatory drugs post-surgery
Treatment with hyperbaric oxygenation for both old and new injuries are covered by the GAA Injury Benefit Fund. A doctor’s referral is required. It is used alongside physiotherapy and other treatments to help an injury recovery.
Exciting times abound at OxyGeneration as more and more people discover the benefits of oxygenation to heal wounds, scars, injuries and reduce impacts of conditions such as Parkinson's.
For more information on OxyGeneration, see www.oxygeneration.com
Would you like unlimited FREE access to all that the Galway Advertiser has to offer? Find out more here!
