Ozone Therapy: What It Does in the Body and Who It Suits

In short: Ozone therapy uses a small, measured dose of medical-grade ozone, an energised form of oxygen, to generate short-lived oxidative signals. In the most common form, a small amount of your blood is drawn, mixed with ozone and returned to you in a session of about 30 to 45 minutes. At SOMA, ozone therapy is physician-supervised, chosen after testing and screening, and given at our Mumbai and New Delhi centres.

What is ozone therapy?

Ozone is oxygen with a third atom attached. The oxygen we breathe has two atoms. That extra atom makes ozone short-lived and highly reactive.

Breathing ozone harms the lungs, because the lungs have little antioxidant protection. So medical ozone is never inhaled. Instead, it is brought into contact with blood, which has a strong built-in antioxidant defence.

Used this way, a precise dose acts as a brief, controlled challenge. The body answers by strengthening its own defences. This idea, that a small measured stress makes the body respond more strongly, is called hormesis. You can read more about it in our page on hormetic signalling.

What does ozone do inside the body?

It reacts within seconds. Ozone dissolves about ten times more easily than oxygen. As it dissolves in the watery part of the blood (plasma), it reacts at once with natural antioxidants such as vitamin C and uric acid, and with fats in the blood. The ozone itself is used up in this step.

It creates short-lived messengers. These reactions produce two kinds of signal:

• Hydrogen peroxide, a tiny oxidising molecule. It moves into red cells, white cells and platelets (the cells that help blood clot). Inside, the cell's own antioxidants, such as glutathione, quickly turn it into water.

• Lipid oxidation products, small molecules made from blood fats. These travel with the blood when it is returned. In one patient, half had cleared from the blood in under five minutes.

It can change how red cells use sugar. Ozone exposure can alter red-cell glucose metabolism, the way red cells burn glucose (sugar) for energy. Increased ATP (the cell's energy currency) and 2,3-DPG (a molecule that helps haemoglobin let go of oxygen in the tissues) have been reported, with the 2,3-DPG increase described in patients with low starting levels.

Cells switch on their own antioxidant defences. A mild oxidative challenge releases a protein called Nrf2 inside cells. Nrf2 acts like a master switch: it moves into the cell's control centre and turns on genes for antioxidant and clean-up enzymes. Laboratory work on cells has shown this switch working step by step with low-dose ozone.

Effects on red cells depend on the dose. Red-cell effects depend on dose and blood conditions. A 2011 review reports 0.4 to 1.2 percent haemolysis (red-cell breakdown) under the conditions it describes; this is not a universal safety threshold.

How long does the effect last?

The ozone is gone within seconds. Different messengers have different lifetimes; a reported blood half-life does not establish how long a patient benefits.

What lasts longer is the body's response. The enzymes that Nrf2 switches on keep working after the messengers have gone. During a longer course of ozone therapy, the newest red cells made by the bone marrow have been found to carry more G6PD, an enzyme red cells use to protect themselves from oxidation.

That is why the dose matters. A very low dose may be neutralised by blood antioxidants. Too much can overwhelm the blood's antioxidant defences. Doctors set the dose against this window and adjust it by response.

What forms of ozone therapy does SOMA use?

Major autohemotherapy is the most common form. "Auto" means your own; "hemo" means blood. A small volume of your blood is drawn, treated with a precise ozone dose, and returned to you through the same line.

EBOO with hemofiltration is the more comprehensive form. Instead of treating a small drawn volume, your blood flows continuously through a circuit that ozonates and filters it over a full session. It has its own page: EBOO with hemofiltration.

SOMA offers both. Your test results decide which, if either, fits your plan.

Who is ozone therapy used for?

There is no fixed list of people it suits. Each person is assessed individually: the doctor decides from your blood work, history and medicines. Ozone therapy is used as a test-guided tool within a wider plan.

Ozone therapy at SOMA supports the body's own systems. It is not presented as a treatment or cure for any disease. Where standard ozone therapy does not match what your results show, your physician may discuss EBOO instead. Where neither is indicated, you will be told plainly. See ozone therapy at SOMA for the full overview.

Who should not have ozone therapy, and who needs extra checks?

Screening is mandatory at SOMA. Some conditions rule ozone therapy out; others need extra assessment. These are screening points for a doctor to consider, not a complete list:

• G6PD deficiency. G6PD is an enzyme that protects red cells from oxidation. G6PD deficiency is a contraindication to ozone autohemotherapy (a reason not to give it), because oxidative exposure can cause red-cell breakdown. The safety review recommends testing before treatment.

• Pregnancy. Pregnancy excludes ozone therapy at SOMA.

• Some blood disorders and some thyroid disorders. These also exclude ozone therapy at SOMA.

• Heart and circulation history, including a small opening between the heart's upper chambers. The same review advises a heart and circulation check before treatment in selected people.

• Serious kidney disease or several long-term conditions together, which call for a careful review of your blood results first.

• All your medicines and supplements, so your doctor can check them against your plan.

What side effects can ozone therapy cause?

Some people feel deep tiredness after a session; one review links this to lower antioxidant capacity at higher doses. As with any blood draw, there can be discomfort or bruising where the needle goes in. Case reports describe serious events, including red cell breakdown and kidney failure with excessive ozone doses, heart and circulation events, gas bubbles reaching the brain in people with an opening between the heart's upper chambers, reactions to blood being returned too fast, severe allergic reactions, and infection when protocols are not followed. Published case reports describe serious complications. That is why screening, controlled dosing and careful reinfusion under a doctor's supervision are essential.

Tell staff straight away if you feel faint, breathless, unwell or develop chest pain.

What happens during an ozone therapy session at SOMA?

Before: your vital signs are checked, and that day's physician-set dose is confirmed.

During: for major autohemotherapy, a small blood draw is treated with medical-grade ozone and returned through the same line. Sessions typically take 30 to 45 minutes, under clinical supervision.

After: most people return to their day straight away. Your response is reviewed against your plan before the next session is booked.

How does a SOMA doctor decide if ozone therapy is right for you?

Consultation and blood work come first. Your doctor looks at your history, medicines and results, and at what you want to achieve. The form of ozone therapy, if any, follows from your results, and the dose, form and frequency are set by your physician and adjusted by your response. Ozone therapy is one part of a plan built around you, with clear points at which progress is measured.

SOMA centres in Mumbai and New Delhi

Ozone therapy is given at both SOMA centres:

• Mumbai: A-507, Kohinoor Square, N.C. Kelkar Marg, Shivaji Park, Dadar West, Mumbai 400028. Phone +91 98671 94033.

• New Delhi: E-354, Greater Kailash II, New Delhi 110048, serving Delhi NCR and Gurugram. Phone +91 87969 92001. More about the New Delhi centre.

The New Delhi centre is independently operated under licence from SOMA Longevity Sciences, and its own doctors lead care there. Both centres follow the same SOMA assessment and diagnostic standards. Online consultations are also available. Contact either centre.

Questions people ask

What does ozone therapy do in the body?

Ozone reacts within seconds with antioxidants and fats in the blood. These reactions generate signalling molecules; laboratory studies show activation of Nrf2-controlled antioxidant genes. The ozone itself is used up at once.

What is the difference between ozone therapy and EBOO?

Major autohemotherapy treats a small drawn volume of blood and returns it. EBOO treats your circulation continuously through a filtration-and-ozonation circuit over a full session, a more comprehensive delivery. SOMA offers both, and your test results decide which, if either, fits your plan.

How long does an ozone therapy session take?

A major autohemotherapy session at SOMA typically takes 30 to 45 minutes, under clinical supervision. Most people return to their day straight after.

Is ozone therapy safe?

At SOMA, every session is physician-supervised, doses are controlled, and mandatory screening excludes people for whom it is not suitable, including pregnancy and some blood and thyroid disorders. Ozone is never inhaled. Published case reports describe serious complications. That is why screening, controlled dosing and careful reinfusion under a doctor's supervision are essential.

Where can I get ozone therapy in Mumbai or Delhi?

SOMA gives physician-led ozone therapy at its centres in Dadar West, Mumbai and Greater Kailash II, New Delhi, which serves Delhi NCR and Gurugram. Every plan starts with a consultation and blood work.

Sources

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2. Sagai M, Bocci V. Mechanisms of action involved in ozone therapy: is healing induced via a mild oxidative stress? Medical Gas Research 2011;1:29. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3298518/

3. Galiè M, Costanzo M, Nodari A, et al. Mild ozonisation activates antioxidant cell response by the Keap1/Nrf2 dependent pathway. Free Radical Biology and Medicine 2018;124:114–121. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29864481/

4. Smith NL, Wilson AL, Gandhi J, et al. Ozone therapy: an overview of pharmacodynamics, current research, and clinical utility. Medical Gas Research 2017;7(3):212–219. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5674660/

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8. SOMA Longevity Sciences. Ozone therapy (session flow, screening, forms and centres). https://www.somalongevitysciences.com/therapies/ozone-therapy