Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: How Oxygen Enhances Recovery From Injury

Every tissue in your body needs oxygen to function properly, and injured tissues have a heightened oxygen requirement. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a novel treatment used for years to treat compression sickness common in scuba divers. Today, we also use it to enhance your body’s ability to heal and recover. 

At Dr. Stem Cell in Encino, California, regenerative orthopedic medicine specialist Bruce Fishman, MD, offers individualized therapy to match your needs. He treats a full range of orthopedic injuries and offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Find out how this treatment is beneficial for enhancing recovery from injury as well as bouncing back from intense sports training. 

What is hyperbaric oxygen therapy?

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing pure oxygen at a high atmospheric pressure, which is produced by pressured air within a special chamber, for 60-90 minutes. The elevated pressure enables your lungs to take in much more oxygen than usual. 

This allows your blood to carry extra oxygen to your tissues, which enhances healing.

Hyperbaric oxygen eases inflammation 

Inflammation is the body’s initial response to injury. Even rigorous exercise triggers an inflammatory response. 

While inflammation is necessary, it can also be problematic. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is beneficial for injuries because it reduces inflammation. It breaks the cycle of inflammation and prevents cells from becoming oxygen-starved due to swelling. 

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy rejuvenates healthy tissue and enhances healing of injured tissue that needs rehabilitation. This dynamic impact is the result of a combination of pressure and pure medical oxygen, which exponentially increases oxygen level in the bloodstream.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy assists in the recovery from sports injuries

Injuries to tendons and ligaments are common in athletes and those who lead an active lifestyle. Most sports injuries affect the lower extremities, and injuries such as ligament or tendon tears and fractures are time-consuming and difficult to recover from.

Research supports the benefits of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for sports injuries. It’s found to be particularly effective for sports injuries involving the bones, ligaments, and tendons.

Oxygen normally flows to your tissues via your circulatory system. However, injury can disturb blood circulation, and injured tissues need more oxygen to recover. 

What’s more, tendons and ligaments have less access to oxygen than other parts of your body like your muscles. Therefore, they take much longer to heal. When you tear a ligament or tendon, the injured tissue has less access to healing growth factors due to less circulation.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy rapidly delivers oxygen to your cells, giving injured tissues a much-needed boost necessary to recover. Instead of depending solely on blood to provide oxygen, hyperbaric oxygen therapy uses air pressure to force extra oxygen into your lungs.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy facilitates muscle recovery

Muscle overuse injuries are common in active individuals. Muscle strains and tears are often a part of life for people who strength train or participate in sports. Overuse caused by hard training commonly contributes to an increase in soft tissue damage among athletes and active people.

You can enhance your training and recovery with hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The oxygen it delivers to your tissues allows your muscles to recover much more quickly. In fact, there’s no faster method of oxygenating your cells.

Additionally, hyperbaric oxygen therapy stimulates muscle tissue growth in injured muscles, which can be a game changer for individuals who want to recover faster and train harder.

To learn more about safe, pain-free hyperbaric oxygen therapy and injury recovery, contact our office by calling or requesting a consultation online. A team member will be happy to help you schedule an appointment with Dr. Fishman.