'Oxygen accelerates healing'

Iwona Miecznikowska was a marketing specialist for the mobile phone operator Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) when she lost her job and became seriously ill. "Doctors couldn't cure me even with strong medicines, so I started looking for unconventional methods of treatment," Miecznikowska said. She eventually turned to oxygen therapy in hopes of restoring her health. "I discovered cryotherapy (the therapeutic use of cold) and oxygen therapy," she said. "It really worked for me." In fact, Miecznikowska became so convinced of the salubrious effects of breathing oxygen-enriched air, that this past summer she opened her own "oxybar" on Al. Jana Pawła II. Oxygen bars, which are popular in Japan, the United States, Germany, Italy and Great Britain, first arrived in Poland in late 1990s. Today there are dozens of them in Warsaw alone. Oxybarflies cite the capital's polluted air as the reason they spend roughly a złoty a minute to breathe filtered, oxygenated air. Others say that the treatment gives them an unrivaled boost of energy while improving their concentration and stamina. "All you have to do is educate people in Poland about this new method of treatment," Miecznikowska said. "I believe in this business because ... there is less and less pure air in our cities."

Miecznikowska equipped her bar with six machines that condense and purify the air while enriching it with oxygen, which is then inhaled by clients. A one-hour session costs zł. 60 with a one-off charge of zł. 25 to assess a person's recommended oxygen dosage. After opening her bar this summer, she's already considering setting up other ones. "If it was only one bar, then I'd have to wait one or two years to break even, which is why I plan to open two bars in Warsaw by the end of this year," she said. "I'm also talking to an investment fund to get the cash to open a chain of oxybars outside of Warsaw." Miecznikowska said that it takes about $30,000-$50,000 to set up an oxybar, which includes top-quality equipment costs and enough promotional help to get clients through the door. She added, though, that she is not planning to launch any elaborate advertising campaigns, relying instead on her own PR skills. She has already signed several contracts with media and cosmetic companies, which have agreed to pay for their employees' treatments. "In Japan, oxygen bars are established literally in companies, which believe that they can enhance employee productivity rates," Miecznikowska said. "I believe this business can also work in Poland if employers understand that oxygen treatment might become a new kind of 'bonus' for their employees and can help them keep fit. Already there are doctors who send us patients for treatment. I'm also talking to plastic surgeries about possible agreements. Oxygen accelerates healing." The number of oxygen treatment centers in Poland has been mushrooming for the past four years. In 1998, the Wrocław-based Polskie Centrum Terapii Tlenowej (PCTT), a Polish oxygen treatment center, set up its initial bar tlenowy, probably the first of its kind in Poland.

"We use oxygen-treatment methods worked out by Manfred von Ardenne, a professor from Germany," said Krystyna Ciołkosz, the co-owner of IQ Connection, which operates PCTT. "There are currently 30 bars across Poland, which under our license use the same methodology." On average, the cost of a license, which includes training, outfitting a bar and investing in equipment, is zł. 50,000, she said. Ciołkosz said that some people try to open oxygen bars independently of the PCTT. "But they cannot use our logo or certain terminology connected with oxygen therapy that are subject to patent law," she said. "We already filed two lawsuits against dishonest companies." But according to market sources, the PCTT's rates are expensive, prompting some people to start oxygen bars on their own. "They want zł. 30,000 as a one-off payment for the license and zł. 300 per machine each month, which they don't even buy for you," said a source who asked not to be named. "(That's) too much to me. But I think there is room on the market for everyone." Małgorzata Karaszewska, who runs a PCTT-licensed oxygen bar on ulica Topiel in Warsaw, said she had no reason to complain about the fees she had to pay to PCTT to get her business started. "We've been in business for one year now, and the only thing that bothers me is that people still don't know enough about this kind of treatment," she said. "There are still too few clients, and you need money for costly ads. People who come know about it from the Internet or hear about the bar from their friends. We also have quite a lot of students who use our services before exams. I know some people look for a better price and can find cheaper places, but we always tell them to ask for the licensed centers for safety reasons." But, according to Miecznikowska, if oxybar owners have a serious approach to the business, there cannot be any health risks associated with the treatment. "I take responsibility for every single person coming into my oxybar," she said. "My equipment has the necessary certificates. It is essential that people should ask about such certificates whenever they go to an oxygen bar."