Why I Bought My Own Ozone Machine
Personal Health & Wellness
Why I Bought My Own Ozone Machine
This isn't a quick post. There's a lot here, and I think it deserves the space.
I recently bought a Stratus 3.0 ozone generator from Simply O3, and I promised myself I'd write about it properly instead of just mentioning it in passing.
If you're already curious, you can check out the exact machine I use here and use code MEGANGRAHAM for 10% off. But I want you to have the whole story first.
My First Experience With Ozone Therapy (This Isn't New To Me)
I'm not new to ozone therapy. Years ago, when I was living in Aspen, I did a handful of treatments with a doctor there who administered it in a more clinical way, drawing blood, infusing it with ozone, and returning it to the body. I don't love needles, so it wasn't my favorite hour of my life. But it was one of the most powerful things I've ever done for my health. I felt it.
The problem was access. He was one of the only people I knew doing this kind of work, the sessions weren't cheap, and healing often takes more than one or two visits. Once I moved out of Aspen, going back for treatments stopped being realistic. So I let it go.
Fast Forward to Lola
This year, my Yorkie Lola was fighting GME. We tried chemo first, and it helped until it didn't. After six rounds, I felt like she'd had enough. Her holistic vet, who also works hand in hand with conventional medicine, brought up ozone. I was hesitant. I remembered exactly how strong it was for me, and that made me nervous for her.
We tried it anyway, alongside her prednisone, not instead of it. And something shifted. She was calmer during treatments. She was eating better than she had in months. Her quality of life in her final stretch was better than I expected it could be. Lola has since passed, and I still think about how much that combination gave her at the end.
Then my other dog Alfie got sick. We used antibiotics and ozone together, and the difference was noticeable enough that I couldn't stop thinking about it.
Down the Rabbit Hole: Researching Ozone Therapy Benefits
Watching what ozone did for both of my dogs sent me into research mode. I read a book cover to cover, The Essential Guide to Ozone Therapy for Animals by Jonathan Lowe, the founder of O3Vets. I picked it up to understand it for my pets. I finished it thinking I needed to understand it for myself too, and I went down a rabbit hole of podcasts, case studies, and research papers after that.
Ozone is oxygen, just rearranged. Regular oxygen is two atoms bonded together, O2, the stuff we breathe every day. Ozone is three atoms, O3, and that third atom makes it unstable in a useful way. It wants to give that extra atom up. When ozone touches blood, tissue, or water, it reacts, and that reaction is where all of this starts.
Here's the part that took me a while to wrap my head around. A tiny, controlled amount of oxidative stress can actually be a good thing. Your body doesn't read it as damage, it reads it as a signal. Think about exercise. When you lift weights, you're creating small amounts of stress and micro damage in the muscle, and your body responds by rebuilding stronger. Too much and you're injured. The right amount and you adapt and improve. That's the same idea here, just at the cellular level. It's called hormesis, a small challenge that triggers the body's own repair and defense systems instead of overwhelming them.
When ozone is introduced into the body in a controlled medical dose, it appears to trigger something called the Nrf2 pathway. I am not a scientist and I'm not going to pretend to explain the biochemistry perfectly, but in plain terms, Nrf2 is like an internal alarm system that tells your cells to start producing more of their own antioxidants and protective enzymes. Things like glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, which are some of your body's most important internal defenses against oxidative damage and inflammation. So the ozone itself isn't the antioxidant. It's more like a wake up call that tells your body to make more of its own.
This is also where the mitochondria piece comes in, because mitochondria are essentially your cellular power plants, and they're incredibly sensitive to oxidative stress and inflammation. When your mitochondria are struggling, everything downstream struggles too. Energy production, detox pathways, immune response, tissue repair. Some of the research I read points to ozone therapy supporting mitochondrial function and oxygen utilization at the cellular level, which is a big part of why people with very different conditions, from autoimmune issues to chronic infections to circulation problems, all seem to report benefits. It's not that ozone is targeting each condition individually. It's that it may be supporting the underlying system that everything else depends on.
There's also an immune piece. Ozone appears to have a modulating effect on the immune system rather than simply stimulating or suppressing it, meaning it may help calm an overactive immune response in some situations while supporting a sluggish one in others. That dual effect is part of why it comes up so often in autoimmune conversations, and it's part of why it made sense for what I've personally been dealing with.
None of this is new or fringe, even though it feels that way in the U.S. Ozone therapy has actually been used in European medicine for decades, particularly in Germany, Italy, Cuba, and Russia, where it's far more mainstream and far more researched in clinical settings. Doctors there have used it for circulation issues, chronic infections, wound healing, and more, often alongside conventional treatment rather than instead of it. It's also not one single method. There's major autohemotherapy, which is what I did in Aspen, where blood is drawn, ozonated, and returned to the body. There's rectal insufflation, ozonated water, ozone saunas, ear insufflation, and topical application through ozonated oils. Different methods for different goals, which is part of what makes an at home generator like mine so useful. You're not locked into one application.
I want to be really clear about something. None of this means ozone treats, cures, or diagnoses anything, and I'm not a doctor. What the research actually supports is more modest and, in a way, more interesting. It's not that ozone fixes a specific problem. It's that it may help support your body's own systems, oxygen utilization, antioxidant production, immune regulation, so that your body has a better shot at doing what it already knows how to do. That distinction matters to me. I'm not interested in miracle stories. I'm interested in giving my body better tools.
Why I Chose Simply O3 (And What My Ozone Therapy Machine Actually Cost)
I spent days comparing companies before I bought anything. I landed on Simply O3 for two practical reasons. First, they offer a six month money back guarantee, which mattered a lot to me going into this not knowing if it would work for my situation. Second, they let me finance the purchase, which also mattered, because a health investment like this is not small.
Let's talk ozone therapy cost for a second, because I think people avoid looking into this simply because they assume it's out of reach. The Stratus 3.0 runs a little over $2,000, and it comes with a lifetime warranty. Compared to years of paying for in-clinic sessions, I looked at it as buying something for life, not just for right now. And with financing, it wasn't the wall I expected it to be.
Where I'm At, Honestly
Here's the part I wasn't expecting to write. About two years ago I had a major flare in my health, and nothing since then had touched it. Not one good day. I've done four treatments on my own machine so far. I want to be clear that I am not fixed. That would be unrealistic and I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
But something is different, and it's different at a time when I'm not exactly running a perfect protocol. I lost Lola recently, so my eating hasn't been where it normally is. I've had some tequila. I've ordered Cold Stone more than once. Normally I eat very low inflammation, and I haven't been doing that the last few weeks.
And yet the constant nausea I've lived with is gone. Not reduced. Gone. That underlying feeling of just being unwell, that heaviness in my stomach even when I hadn't eaten anything, that's gone too. And the last few nights I've caught myself telling my husband something I haven't said in two years. I feel tired, but not the collapsed, chronic fatigue kind of tired. It feels more like my body actually wants to rest and rebuild. That's a completely different sensation than what I've been living in.
I don't know how far this will take me. I'm four treatments in. But I didn't expect to notice anything this fast, especially while I'm not doing everything right on the food side.
One More Thing, While I'm Being Honest
This whole thing started because of a skincare line I'd already been using two products from, including their Glycine + Peptide Spray. My face had been itchy for weeks, nothing I tried was helping, and the first time I used that spray, the itching stopped. It hasn't come back since.
What's Next
I'm going to keep going with my treatments and keep you updated as I do. If you want to look into an ozone machine for yourself, here's the exact one I use, plus a discount code.
Shop The Stratus 3.0Use code MEGANGRAHAM for 10% off
Have questions before you buy? Email me at megangrahambeauty@gmail.com and I'm happy to share more about my experience.
Common Questions
Is ozone therapy safe?
Ozone therapy has been used in clinical settings for decades, particularly in Europe. That said, this is my personal experience, not medical advice, and I'd always recommend talking to a doctor or holistic practitioner before starting, especially for a pet or a serious health condition.
What does ozone therapy actually do?
In simple terms, it may help support your body's own antioxidant production, immune regulation, and oxygen utilization at the cellular level. It's not a cure for anything specific, it's more about giving your body better tools to do what it already knows how to do.
Why did you choose an at home machine instead of in clinic treatments?
Access and cost. In clinic sessions add up quickly and aren't always nearby. An at home generator meant I could treat myself and my dogs consistently, and over time it made more financial sense than paying per session indefinitely.
Can ozone therapy be used for pets too?
Yes. It's what first introduced me to it in a practical way, through my dogs Lola and Alfie, alongside their veterinary care. I'd recommend working with a holistic vet who is familiar with it before trying it on a pet.
Megan is a two-time "Best of Boston" award-winning hairstylist with 24 years in the professional beauty industry. After developing sensitivities to the fragrances and chemicals she had worked with throughout her career, she made it her mission to find clean alternatives that actually performed and to help others do the same. When she recommends something, it is because she has lived it.
Not medical advice. I share my personal experience only. Some links in this post may be affiliate or network marketing links, meaning I may earn a commission or bonus if you purchase through them, at no extra cost to you. I only share products I personally use and love.