Breathing Ozonated Oil (BOO)

At a glance

• You CANNOT breathe ozone gas directly as it will irritate the lungs — but ozone bubbled through oil becomes ozonides, which can be beneficial to breathe for a variety of reasons 
• BOO is used for nose, throat, and lung issues, but does not appear to have a systemic or full body effect
• Much research is needed on breathing ozonides because most of the information about it comes from conversations with medical practitioners on their clinical experiences.
• Although a lot of people breathe ozonides, the safety of BOO therapy hasn’t been conclusively researched (but you can read about the safety of other ozone therapies here)
• We cover the required equipment and recommended protocol 

BOO - an ozone therapy for the lungs?

Ozone is commonly known to be an irritant to the lungs, because it’s an oxidant and the lung tissue has no antioxidant defenses.

But once the ozone gas is bubbled through olive or another natural oil, it’s dismembered and no longer has that oxidizing value on the lungs. This process turns ozone gas into an ozonide, which most people say is safe to breathe.

In full transparency, breathing ozonides is not a well-researched topic from a scientific standpoint.  There are tens of thousands of people who regularly do it and it appears to be safe according to anecdotal reports by doctors and patients.  However, as is the case with all information on this website, this article is for educational purposes only.  It’s recommended you consult with your medical practitioner if you’re considering any ozone therapy.

Why breathe ozonides?

Typically clinicians refer patients to BOO therapy when there is a lung, sinus, or throat infection. 

Some clinicians, such as Dr. Lee Cowden, also recommend it in the case of lung cancers and other lung based issues.

It does not seem to be a systemic or full body treatment.  

Indications

Unlike most ozone therapies, none of the scientific organizations have produced an official document on BOO.  This limits a lot of the information about BOO to clinical experiences by medical professionals and patients.  

Here’s our speculation about why these organizations haven’t commented on this somewhat common ozone therapy: 

Since ozone is widely known as an irritant to the lungs, publishing a scientific document on breathing ozonides would be an uphill battle — it would never see the light of day despite a lot of time, energy, and research.  Scientific organizations would rather focus on ozone modalities that already have a scientific groundwork and are getting approval in a growing number of countries.

With that in mind, here are the reasons clinicians refer patients to BOO.  It’s not a complete or comprehensive list, but will serve as direction:

• Lung infections
• Sinus Infections
• Throat infections
• Some practitioners use for lung cancer
• Some practitioners use for asthma
• Some practitioners use for COPD
• Some practitioners use for mold exposure and toxicity

Benefits

Breathing ozonides is a pretty straightforward therapy.  Ozonides have an antiseptic property, meaning they eliminate pathogens.  

Although it’s not certain, BOO ozone therapy is speculated to help speed healing time.  Ozone oil on the skin has been shown to stimulate growth factor, so some think breathing ozonides may do the same thing.

• May eliminate infections in the lungs, sinus, and throat.
• May speed healing time of affected tissues

Safety

No good safety studies have been done on breathing ozonides, despite a lot of medical practitioners using it.  

However, a lot of safety studies and research has been done on other forms of ozone therapy.  We have an in-depth article looking at the safety of ozone therapy.

We did run some basic tests, just to see if any ozone gas could be detected after bubbling through oil.  Every test we did showed that NO ozone gas was present after it had been bubbled through the oil.

That’s because ozone is unstable and wants to bond with other materials, which happens almost instantaneously once the ozone hits the oil.  This creates ozonides, which are then the gas that is breathed in.

Equipment Required for BOO

Getting started with ozone therapy requires a few things:

• Oxygen Tank
• Oxygen Regulator (typically comes with the generator)
• Ozone Generator
• Oil Bubbling Device

Protocol

Basic Information

• Ozone concentration ranges from 15-30 ug/ml (gamma)
• Liter flow should be around ¼ lpm 
• Flow of ozone through bubbles in the glass is important
• Use about 8-12 ounces of olive oil

Protocol for BOO

Low and Slow Approach

• For the first week do three days of 15 minute sessions at ¼ lpm. After 1 week, move up to 30 mins a session 3x/week
• Then titrate up to as long of a session as desired by your medical practitioner

Aggressive Approach

• Start off with 15 mins of around 20 gamma at ¼ lpm for the first week 5x/week
• After 1 week, you can move up to 30 mins a session at around 20 gamma 5x/week
• For the 3rd week you can move up to 45 mins a session 5x/week
• Then titrate up to as long as 1hr a session 5-7 times a week or as long as desired by your medical practitioner

Helpful hints

• BOO is best done with olive oil as the base oil
• The oil can be reused as it doesn’t come in contact with you.  Change it after every 2-4 hours of use
• You can reuse your cannula, just wipe it clean with an alcohol wipe after use
• Some people can experience headaches after a BOO treatment, so you might want to decrease the time or even the gamma (concentration of ozone) by half if this happens to you 
• You CANNOT breathe direct ozone gas.  Bubbling it through oil dismantles the ozone into ozonides.  
• Consult your medical practitioner before attempting any form of ozone therapy