How Effective Is Hyperbaric Treatment For Sports Injuries?

 In the past few years, sports have evolved to a new level. The intensity of sports activities has increased, which has also surged sports injuries. From broken bones to sore ligaments, contact sports and every conditioning and training impacts the physical well-being of sportspersons.

Hence, with the increase in sports injuries, the need for non-invasive therapy has also emerged. As a result, hyperbaric chambers are becoming popular in this domain.

In hyperbaric chambers, 100% oxygen is delivered to the patient at high pressure, more than 1ATA. The patient is made to enter a monoplace or multiplace hyperbaric chamber, where 100% oxygen is inhaled at 1.5-03.0 ATA pressure; depending upon the intake capacity of the patient and the severity of the condition. At this pressure, oxygen dissolves in body fluids such as plasma, lipids, etc. This action fulfills the oxygen requirements of the body when hemoglobin-bound oxygen is not present or low in concentration.

Due to this action of hyperbaric chambers, this therapy contributes a lot to the health of sportspersons.

Here’s a study that evaluates nine trials. These trials contained 219 patients in total. In two trials, HBOT therapy was compared to sham therapy to judge how it impacts closed acute soft tissue injuries. The remaining trials judged the impact of HBOT on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

The first group of 32 participants had ankle sprain injuries, but they all regained normal working after the therapy. Their functional outcomes, including swelling and pain, were reduced significantly.

In the other 7 trials, initially, there was higher pain in the DOMS group. This means that in the first 48-72 hours, the HBOT group had higher pain, but the long-term impact was similar.

In conclusion, all nine studies showed favorable results when collectively evaluated. The hyperbaric chambers helped in relieving symptoms of an acute knee injury, ankle sprain, and DOMS.

Below we have discussed the benefits of hyperbaric chambers. Read on to know why you should consider this therapy.

Benefits of Hyperbaric Chamber for Athletes

Multiple sports people believe in the power of HBOT therapy. A lot of sports personalities, like NFL players consider receiving HBOT therapy regularly. Here are some of the amazing benefits of hyperbaric chambers.

Active Recovery

During conditioning, training, practice, and competition, the body of sportspeople stresses out. Therefore, recovery is a major part of every sportsperson’s schedule. For instance, mountain climbers and distance runners regularly take off to allow their bodies to rest and recover in between workout sessions. Multiple coaches are known to provide one game off to their players to enable faster and proper recovery.

So, when we talk about the performance of a sportsperson, their recovery period is necessary. However, this phase should not be as easy as sitting around. Athletes who wish to improve performance and increase the healing rate in the recovery phase should prefer active recovery in place of passive recovery. Passive recovery is sitting around, but active recovery comes from therapies like HBOT. Active recovery is quick and beneficial.

Here’s how you can utilize your chances of active recovery through hyperbaric chambers. Some benefits of HBOT in recovery are:

• Fast cartilage and bone regeneration.
• Improved activation of stem cells.
• Decreased exhaustion and muscle fatigue.

Injury Healing

Any type of injury, small or big, has an unavoidable impact on the life of athletes. Regardless of the type of sports that you play, rock climbing, running, or football, you can suffer from injuries. For example, runners can face stressed joints and rock climbers can strain their tendons.

The traditional ingredient for the treatment of these injuries is to rest and rest. This rest is passive recovery, and the athlete can just lie around. This method is slow and might take a lot of time.

Contrary to this, hyperbaric chambers can help in increasing the healing of injuries. The reason why hyperbaric chambers can improve healing in athletes is that, at increased pressure, more oxygen is delivered to the body. The increase in oxygen offers the optimum amount of oxygen to even deprived tissues and ligaments, which enhances healing.

Here’s how HBOT helps in healing:

• Recovery from ligament and ACL injuries.
• Fatigue and muscle strain healing.
• Healing of cartilage damage.

Concussion Treatment

It is highly unlikely for most of the employees to get traumatic brain injury or concussion. However, some sportspersons suffer from TBI or concussion, and the recovery is not easy.

Hyperbaric chambers can help in improving recovery from TBI and concussion. With extra oxygen, the body can regain the functioning of damaged tissues and increase cell regeneration to relieve symptoms of concussion and TBI.

Performance Boosting

Every athlete needs to increase performance to stay relevant in the sports industry. For this reason, many sportspersons achieve training at high altitudes, increase red blood cell count, and improve oxygen levels in the body. Another method used by athletes is to utilize hyperbaric therapy for better blood circulation and oxygenation in the body.

Conclusion

After receiving HBOT therapy in hyperbaric chambers, sports injuries can be improved. This is because most sports injuries restrict the flow of oxygen to the damaged tissue or ligament. With poor oxygen supply, healing is slow and recovery is a far-fetched concern. Therefore, hyperbaric chambers are used to increase oxygen levels in the body and improve the healing rate of damaged and injured tissues and ligaments. However, consider consulting a medical professional before starting this therapy at home.