Research Shows that Hyperbarics Heals Long-Covid
Lisa St. John, M.S.
Lisa is our Clinic Director and Founder. She earned her Master's degree from Harvard University, completed a Fellowship at Stanford University, and has spent the last 30 years working in the healthcare field.
What Is Long COVID?
Long COVID, or Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), refers to symptoms that persist for weeks or months after the initial COVID-19 infection. The exact cause isn't fully understood, which is part of why it's so difficult to treat with conventional methods.
Common symptoms include:
Fatigue (reported by roughly 65% of patients as severe enough to limit daily activity)
"Brain fog" — trouble with memory and focus
Shortness of breath
Widespread pain
Depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress
Loss of taste or smell
Insomnia and headaches
Researchers believe these symptoms stem from ongoing inflammation in the brain and body, along with reduced oxygen delivery to tissue (hypoxia) and small blood clots that can affect the lungs, brain, and other organs.
What the Research Shows
This is where it's important to be precise, because the studies don't all agree.
The positive evidence: A sham-controlled, double-blind randomized trial out of Israel treated 73 long COVID patients with 40 daily HBOT sessions and found statistically significant improvements in global cognitive function, attention, energy, sleep, psychiatric symptoms, and pain compared to the placebo group. A follow-up study one year later found that most of these improvements had held steady over time — suggesting the benefits weren't temporary.
The less encouraging evidence: A separate Swedish trial (HOT-LoCO), also sham-controlled and double-blind, tested a shorter protocol — 10 HBOT sessions — in 80 patients. This trial found no significant difference between HBOT and placebo in physical function or role limitations at 13 weeks.
What this likely means: Taken together, current research suggests that HBOT may help long COVID symptoms — but probably only with a longer treatment course. The positive trials all used substantially more sessions (40) than the trial that found no benefit (10). This is a meaningful distinction, and it's one reason we don't believe in overpromising results to patients.
How HBOT May Help
Based on the mechanisms studied in this research, HBOT is thought to work through a few pathways:
Oxygen delivery — Breathing concentrated oxygen under pressure significantly increases the amount reaching poorly-oxygenated tissue throughout the body
Inflammation — HBOT has been shown to help regulate the body's inflammatory response, which is believed to drive many long COVID symptoms
Brain changes — In the positive trials, HBOT was associated with measurable changes in brain perfusion and microstructure in regions tied to cognition and emotion, alongside symptom improvement
Tissue repair — HBOT is understood to stimulate the release of growth factors that support tissue and blood vessel repair, which may help with lingering lung and muscle symptoms
Our Treatment Approach
Consistent with the protocol used in the positive clinical trials, our standard course involves 100% oxygen at 2.0 ATA for 90 minutes, with air breaks every 20 minutes, and typically 20–40 sessions depending on symptom severity — not the shorter protocol that failed to outperform placebo in trials. Some physician partners recommend pressures up to 2.4 ATA.
HBOT is best considered as part of a broader recovery plan that may also include physical therapy, medication, and nutritional support, developed with your healthcare provider.
Safety and Expert Care
As with any treatment for a still-emerging condition, we believe patients deserve honest information about what's proven and what's still uncertain. At Bay Area Hyperbarics, treatment is provided under expert care with safety as the priority at every session.
Consult a healthcare provider before starting any new treatment. This article is for educational purposes and does not replace medical advice from your care team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HBOT cure long COVID? No treatment, including HBOT, has been shown to cure long COVID. The strongest clinical trials show significant symptom improvement with longer protocols (40 sessions), not a guaranteed resolution.
How many HBOT sessions does long COVID treatment require? Clinical trials showing benefit used 40 daily sessions. A trial using only 10 sessions did not show benefit over placebo, suggesting session count matters.
Is HBOT covered by insurance for long COVID? Long COVID is not currently an FDA-approved indication for HBOT, so it is generally not covered by Medicare or most private insurance. Our team can help you understand costs before starting treatment.
If you or a loved one is living with long COVID, reach out to our team for an honest conversation about whether hyperbaric oxygen therapy could be part of your recovery plan.
Research Shows that Hyperbarics Heals Long-Covid
Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) provides more than a 90% resolution of Long Covid symptoms. Learn more about how HBOT helps in this blog!
