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Athletes and MHBOT

Athletes increasingly turn to oxygen therapy to gain a competitive edge, speed recovery, and treat injuries. The primary type of oxygen therapy for athletes is Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).

Here’s how athletes best use these therapies:

Mild Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (mHBOT)

MHBOT is the most well-known and widely adopted form of oxygen therapy in elite sports. It involves breathing oxygen in a pressurized chamber. This significantly increases the amount of oxygen dissolved in the blood plasma, allowing it to reach and saturate tissues that might otherwise be oxygen-deprived.

Key Uses and Benefits for Athletes:

Accelerated Injury Recovery: This is arguably the most significant application.
- Reduced Inflammation and Swelling:The increased oxygen helps reduce the inflammatory response, which is crucial for pain relief and speeding up the initial stages of healing for injuries like muscle strains, ligament sprains, stress fractures, and even post-surgical recovery.
- Enhanced Tissue Repair:Oxygen is vital for cellular metabolism and ATP (energy) production. MHBOT provides abundant oxygen to damaged tissues, promoting the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), stimulating collagen synthesis (important for tendons, ligaments, and skin), and activating stem cells for regeneration. This can drastically reduce recovery times, allowing athletes to return to play faster.
- Fighting Infection: By boosting the body’s immune response, HBOT can help prevent and treat infections that might complicate injury recovery.
Improved Recovery from Intense Training and Competition:
- Reduced Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS): HBOT helps clear metabolic waste products, like lactic acid, and reduces micro-trauma inflammation, leading to less soreness and faster muscle recovery after strenuous workouts.
- Fatigue Reduction: By increasing oxygen supply to fatigued muscles and enhancing ATP synthesis, athletes can recover more efficiently, feel less tired, and be ready for their next training session or competition sooner.
- Overall Regeneration: It aids in systemic recovery, allowing the body to bounce back from the immense physical demands placed upon it.
Potential Performance Enhancement:
- As discussed previously, inflammation is a key part of the immune response, but chronic or excessive inflammation can suppress immune function and damage tissues.While direct performance enhancement during a competition from a single HBOT session is less clear, consistent HBOT as part of a recovery regimen can lead to athletes being able to train harder, recover faster, and therefore maintain a higher level of performance over time.
- Some anecdotal evidence and emerging research suggest it might improve endurance and reduce fatigue during prolonged exertion by optimizing oxygen delivery to muscles.
- Improved mental clarity and focus due to enhanced brain oxygenation can also be a benefit.

How Athletes Typically Use HBOT:

Post-Injury: Immediately following an acute injury or surgery, multiple sessions (sometimes daily for a period) are common to kickstart and accelerate the healing process.
During Training Cycles: Athletes might schedule regular HBOT sessions (e.g., a few times a week or after particularly gruelling training blocks) to manage fatigue, prevent overuse injuries, and maintain optimal recovery.
Leading Up to or After Major Events: Some athletes use HBOT before major competitions for a “freshening” effect or immediately after for rapid recovery from the event’s demands.

Notable Athletes Who Have Used HBOT: LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, Michael Phelps, Serena Williams, and Novak Djokovic are among the many high-profile athletes reported to use HBOT as part of their elite performance and recovery strategies.

Ready to try it? Our private Contrast Therapy Room at Elements Float Wellness Centre is the perfect place to experience the benefits firsthand. Book your session today and take the plunge into wellness!