Greg and Carolyn Gurski have turned their passion for wellness into a new business venture, opening a studio to provide hyperbaric oxygen therapy and red light therapy.
O2 & Red Light Therapy opened in April at 2815 Old Jacksonville Road in Springfield. The 1,700-square-foot studio features three hyperbaric oxygen chambers and two private rooms for red-light therapy.
The Gurskis are both retired from the corrections industry, but Carolyn Gurski said they’ve always had an interest in health and wellness, with Carolyn Gurski earning health coaching certifications.
“I’ve always been interested in deep diving into health and nutrition and healing,” she said. “Even when it wasn’t a job for me, it was a side hustle.”
Gurski said she first became aware of the benefits of hyperbaric therapy when the treatment was recommended for a friend who was healing from skin grafts. Gurski and her friend, who lived in Bloomington at the time, had to travel to Tennessee for the therapy, which wasn’t available locally.
“I thought bringing it to Springfield would be a great fit for the area because we’re centrally located,” she said.
Gurski said the hyperbaric treatment delivers concentrated oxygen that can help reduce inflammation and promote cellular repair, while red-light therapy allows more oxygen to flow into the blood tissue and improves blood circulation. She said the therapies can help individuals who are seeking to manage chronic pain, reduce inflammation and improve anti-aging, among other things.
“We only offer these two things because they work synergistically,” Gurski said.
O2 & Red Light Therapy is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with additional times available by appointment.
Properly administered and supervised hyperbaric oxygen treatment IS available for the appropriate medical indications (about 15 currently) at Springfield Memorial Hospital, St. John’s Hospital, and Jacksonville Memorial Hospital.
In response to Dr. Goodman, I think that’s fabulous. However, with all due respect, I’ve spent thousands of dollars out of pocket with conventional medicine, my Memorial doctor who’s heard the same complaints and run more labs every year, and others in chiropractic to be told my labs are normal, I’m fine, and if I could just get my anxiety under control, I wouldn’t have all these symptoms. Lo and behold, there is toxic mold hidden deep within my home that was very hard to find. I’ve been diagnosed with chronic inflammatory response syndrome with one lab showing inflammation at 11 times the upper threshold. These tests are not available in the medical settings most people are using. Nobody is asking these questions. I even took my visual contrast sensitivity results (look it up!) that indicated mold in 2022 and was told it probably wasn’t it. No further questions. I have a 10-year-old daughter who I had at 41 and every reason in the world to fight for my life, which has felt like it’s slipping through my fingers year after year. I’m so grateful for the Gurskis and others who are acting when the system is failing us. I cannot wait to get hyperbaric oxygen treatment right in my own community! Would I rather have it within the system? Sure I would. But who will help me?
Memorial had a hyperbaric chamber in 2001.