MYTH 1:  PURE OXYGEN keeps skin young and healthy.

• In 1937, Hans Adolf Krebs published a study on cellular respiration.  The study shows that the level of cellular respiration was higher in younger than older skin.  This led to some to speculate that INCREASING skin respiration is the key to reversing skin ageing.
• We now know that FREE RADICALS and OXIDATION are the by-products of cellular respiration. The very act of breathing is aging us.   The body also produces anti-oxidants to mop up these free radicals, but more oxygen may not necessarily be healthy for us or for our skin.

MYTH 2:  OXYGEN CAN BE ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN

• Up to a certain size (flatworm, for example), animals can absorb oxygen through their skin and let it spread through their tissues.  Insects need air tubes to get oxygen in to their bodies, and larger mammals, like us, need a ‘gas-exchanging air pump’ or lungs to distribute oxygen through out our complex systems.
• Contrary to popular belief, our skin does not “breathe”.   Skin cells do not get oxygen directly from the air but indirectly from the lungs through the blood supply.
• Although we have pores, our skin is not ‘porous”.  The pores key function is to RELEASE substances (wastes/toxins through sweats, for example), but the skin is a very effective barrier that keeps harmful microbes and chemicals out and water in to protect us from infections and dehydration.

MYTH 3:  HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY (a clinical method for wound healing) is an effective method to deliver active ingredients and promote younger, brighter, and healthier skin.

• AnHyperbarric oxygen treatment in a NON-SEALED chamber is impossible.
• Oxygen concentrators in oxygen facial machines are not capable of producing 100% oxygen
• As soon as oxygen is released and pumped through the air, it is mixed with air and its effectiveness in wound healing is greatly diminished.

WHAT IS HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY?

• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves exposing the body to 100% oxygen in a pressure –controlled, sealed chamber.  In this environment you are completely immersed in pure oxygen at high pressure (more than 3 times normal atmospheric pressure).
• Oxygen therapy can also be given through a gas mask, which delivers pure oxygen to your lungs.
• “Topical” hyperbaric oxygen therapy can be applied to different parts of the body by wrapping a plastic bag around the wound and pumping 100% oxygen into the bag, exposing the wound directly to pure oxygen.   The effectiveness of ‘topical’ hyperbaric oxygen therapy is questionable, at best.

WHAT DO DOCTORS AND EXPERTS SAY ABOUT OXYGEN FACIALS?

• “So many celebrities are doing the treatment because it temporarily diminishes all the tiny imperfections that would otherwise be visible on high-definition TV,” said Michelle Peck, a masseuse from Los Angeles. Ms. Peck is referred to as Madonna’s personal oxygen treatment facialist on the Web site madonna.com.
• As trendy as the oxygen facial may be, there is no hard evidence of its effectiveness, and academic experts are skeptical. Dr. Christopher B. Zachary, a professor and the dermatology department chairman at the University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, put it bluntly: “The concept that high-pressure oxygen would do anything to help the skin is such nonsense as to be laughable”.
• “We hope that the oxygen is creating a pressure bubble that drives vitamins and nutrients into the skin,” said Dr. Fredric Brandt, a dermatologist in Miami and New York City. “But we have no data to support that.”

NEW NAME OLD TRICK?

1938 Helena Rubinstein Oxylation Treatment. “To make your skin velvet-smooth, glow with life and radiance, have the vitalising new Oxylation Treatment just introduced by Madame Rubinstein. By a special process, live oxygen filtered through a gentle herbal vapour is sprayed on the skin, so that the pores can actually breathe it in. Under the oxygen’s influence, the skin is cleared of sallowness, dullness and every trace of discolouration. Leathery weatherbeaten skin becomes satin-soft, fair and younger looking.”

1947 Helena Rubinstein Oxylation Treatment. “Already relaxed and purring from the massage, you lie back with pads over your eyes, while oxygen is pumped into your face and neck. It strikes cold at first, but is wonderfully stimulating when you get use to it.”’

A modern version of the oxygen skin treatment with updated claims. “For this procedure we use medical cosmetic products containing vitamins A, C and E, aloe vera extract and oxygen activating liquid. Oxygen pressure has a massaging effect during the procedure which fastens collagen and elastin synthesis.”