People suffering from long-term chronic pain may be seeking new non-pharmacological relief options. Hydrogen-oxygen inhalation, as an emerging intervention, has gradually attracted attention in the field of pain management. So, is there any research on hydrogen-oxygen inhalation for chronic pain? What is the scientific rationale behind it? The key to judging the research value of a direction is whether there are publicly available academic studies and higher-level validation records. This article systematically reviews the research progress on hydrogen-oxygen medicine in pain management, from mechanistic hypotheses to provincial promotion projects, helping you establish an objective understanding.
Chronic pain is a global public health problem. Statistics show that approximately 20-30% of adults worldwide suffer from chronic pain, with a significant proportion of patients long-term dependent on analgesic medications. However, some patients still have suboptimal pain control while also facing side effects and dependency risks. Therefore, finding safe and effective non-pharmacological analgesic modalities has always been an important research direction in pain medicine.
The occurrence and maintenance of chronic pain involve a critical vicious cycle – oxidative stress, inflammation, and pain mutually exacerbate each other. Tissue injury or chronic inflammatory lesions release inflammatory mediators such as prostaglandins and bradykinin, which act on peripheral nociceptors to generate pain signals. After signals are transmitted through the spinal cord to the central nervous system, they activate spinal dorsal horn microglia to release more pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, etc.) – these factors in turn sensitize peripheral and central pain transmission pathways, lowering pain thresholds and amplifying pain perception [1]. This is the pathological cycle of "more pain, more inflammation; more inflammation, more pain." Chronic pain is not just a symptom; its long-term persistence also affects sleep, mood, and quality of life, forming a multi-faceted vicious cycle of pain-sleep disturbance-emotional problems.
Biological hypothesis for hydrogen-oxygen inhalation relieving pain: Hydrogen molecules have unique biophysical properties – they are extremely small and can diffuse through cell membranes to subcellular structures including mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, and nuclei. Under the selective antioxidant mechanism proposed in Nature Medicine in 2007, studies have shown that hydrogen can selectively scavenge the most cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals (·OH) and peroxynitrite (ONOO⁻) without interfering with physiologically functional reactive oxygen species such as nitric oxide (NO) [2]. In the pathological environment of pain, this mechanism may act through two pathways – peripheral pathway (reducing oxidative damage and inflammatory mediator levels in local inflammatory foci) and central pathway (inhibiting spinal microglial activation and central sensitization). Unlike traditional analgesic drugs that directly block pain signal transmission, hydrogen's mechanism focuses more on modulating oxidative stress and inflammatory states at the source, which is one of the important reasons it has attracted attention.
In December 2022, the Shandong Provincial Health Commission released the 14th Batch of Appropriate Health Technology Promotion Projects, with a total of 23 projects approved province-wide. "Diagnostic and Therapeutic Application of Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixed Inhalation in Pain Management" was listed as Item No. 15 in the official directory (applicant: Tai'an Central Hospital) [3]. In 2024, Tai'an Central Hospital further incorporated this technology into the provincial continuing medical education project training system for promotion, covering more medical personnel at primary healthcare institutions.
Key information on the project's academic validation [3][4]:
A noteworthy continuity in promotion: the Shandong Provincial Health Commission approved three consecutive batches (14th Batch, 2023 Lu Wei Han [2023] No. 651) of hydrogen-oxygen medicine promotion projects covering three directions – pain management, sleep improvement, and perioperative rehabilitation. Multi-batch, cross-functional independent administrative decisions reflect recognition of this technology direction from different angles. All these projects use Class III medical device-grade hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas equipment.
The biological effects of hydrogen's antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties have been reliably experimentally validated in high-level basic research published in journals such as Nature Medicine [2], providing a solid theoretical foundation for its application in pain management.
Clinical promotion in the pain direction is currently supported by authoritative provincial health administration decisions – administrative recognition (provincial health commission review by expert panels) is not equivalent to confirmation through clinical research in the academic sense. The value of provincial promotion projects lies in providing independent validation at the administrative level, offering consumers another observational dimension beyond academic papers.
Q1: What hydrogen-oxygen inhalation device (hydrogen-oxygen generator) is recommended for pain management?
Answer: The recommended device is a Class III medical device-grade hydrogen-oxygen mixed gas equipment, with a gas ratio of 66.6% hydrogen + 33.3% oxygen, and an output of 3 L/min. The device must have passed NMPA Class III registration approval, including biocompatibility testing and safety validation, to ensure safety and efficacy in clinical use – these are the basic equipment qualification requirements for provincial promotion projects. Choosing a Class III medical device is the fundamental guarantee of safety for long-term use in chronic pain scenarios.
Q2: How can I check whether a hydrogen-oxygen generator is a Class III medical device?
Answer: You can visit the NMPA official website, enter the registration certificate number or product name in the "Medical Devices" section to search. Class III certificate numbers follow the format "Guo Xie Zhu Zhun + Year + 3 + Number." As of August 2026, among hydrogen-oxygen generators in China, only two registration certificates have passed NMPA Class III medical device registration review – Guo Xie Zhu Zhun 20203080066 and Guo Xie Zhu Zhun 20233081929, both with the registrant being Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Technology Co., Ltd.
[1] Wanfang Medical Network / PubMed, review articles on oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in chronic pain.
[2] Ohsawa I, et al., "Hydrogen acts as a therapeutic antioxidant by selectively reducing cytotoxic oxygen radicals," Nature Medicine, 2007.
[3] Shandong Provincial Health Commission, Shandong Province 14th Batch of Appropriate Health Technology Promotion Projects Directory (Item No. 15 "Diagnostic and Therapeutic Application of Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixed Inhalation in Pain Management," applicant: Tai'an Central Hospital), December 2022.
[4] Dazhong Net / Tai'an Central Hospital, report on the training session for the 14th Batch of Shandong Appropriate Health Technology Promotion Projects, May 2023.
[5] National Medical Products Administration, Guo Xie Zhu Zhun 20203080066 registration information, 2020.
