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RESEARCH SHOWS

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Improves Athletic Performance and Heals Sports Injuries

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has been shown to reduce pain, speed healing and help reach full recovery from high impact sports and injuries. Athletes use HBOT to repair sports injuries faster and better, so athletes can get back to their normal activities with less pain, swelling and bruising. It facilitates better movement and faster healing than your body can on it’s own. Whether we’re a Pro football, hockey, or soccer player, a kid playing for fun, or a parent, we all want to know how to accelerate healing from surgeries, injuries and wounds. From sprains or strains to tears, breaks, surgery or head injuries, we all care about recovery. At Bay Area Hyperbarics, we have healed and improved athletic performance for people ranging from professional athletes to small children during our 20 years of experience.

HBOT works by super saturating your body with oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen drives the oxygen rich air into your blood with up to 12,000% more oxygen into the blood and fluid throughout your body. Your body gets saturated with oxygen, because you breathe 100% oxygen (as opposed to the 21% oxygen we typically breathe), with your whole body in one of our pressurized chambers. This pressure forces the oxygen into tissues, bones and the brain that are bruised, broken or damaged. This in turn kicks open the flood gates, and the race of cellular repair begins.

By growing new blood vessels, reducing swelling and inflammation, stimulating bone cell regeneration, accelerating the production of stem cells, enhancing collagen production with ligament injuries and improving brain recovery, HBOT helps many sports injuries to recover fast and effectively.

HBOT down-regulates over 4,000 inflammatory genes by 30%. It up-regulates over 4,000+ genes that trigger cells to reproduce at a super fast speed. It speeds healing by 50% or more. HBOT treatments also reduce swelling. It also increases blood flow to injured areas. As a result, nutrients, healing cells and hormones enter the injured area of your body much more quickly. It also stimulates an increase of stem cells in the damaged tissues, including the bone marrow. As a result, HBOT regrows tissue, regenerates nerve cells, regrows new tiny blood vessels and repairs and regenerates cartilage, collagen and bone. Our patients walk faster, taller and stronger.

HBOT injects oxygen not only into soft tissues and bone, but also into your brain, which helps it regain neurologic function quicker. For more information about how HBOT helps heal concussions, see our page on traumatic brain injury and concussion.

The bottom line is that with hyperbaric oxygen therapy, you have less pain during recovery and your recovery is much faster.

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How Hyperbarics Helps

  • Reduces pain and swelling
  • Builds new blood vessels and blood supply to tissues
    and bones
  • Builds new collagen, skin and tissues
  • Mobilizes stem cells
  • It is safe, comfortable and pain free

Patient Experiences

  • Brandi-Chastain-Pic-Patients-1

    Brandi Chastain, 51

    HBOT repaired her old knee injuries.
    The world watched as Brandi Chastain kicked the winning goal for the FIFA Soccer World Cup in 1999, and when she helped her team to win two Olympic Gold medals. Unfortunately, those years of success included numerous injuries, along with several knee surgeries to resolve her knee pain. Even after surgery and other adjunctive therapies, Brandi still woke up every night with knee pain. This went on for four years. In addition to coping with the pain itself, and a lack of sleep, she had to limit her running and coaching. She experienced such swelling and pain in her knee that she was limping by the end of an active day. She came to Bay Area Hyperbarics and used our hyperbaric oxygen chambers to repair her knee injuries. Now, Brandi sleeps through the night without pain, and her knee no longer swells, causing her to limp after a run. We’ve seen the same with numerous athletes who healed just like Brandi, so they can run longer distances, and do so faster, with less pain or swelling. Continue reading
  • Anthony-42-1

    Anthony, 42

    Broke his back rock climbing. HBOT helped him stand up straight again.
    Anthony broke his back rock climbing at the age of 19. When we met him he had been using a walker, dragging his left foot and his back was so injured and bent over that he could not look up into the trees or the sky. He tried many different treatments trying to straighten his back and regain better use of his foot which he said had little effect. His brother chided him for wasting his money trying to improve his body. Twenty-one years after his accident, he received treatments in our hyperbaric chambers. Afterward, Anthony could walk must faster and with much greater ease. At times, he could let go of his walker and walk, because he was able to lift his foot instead of dragging it. And to his delight, Anthony showed everyone who would watch that he could straighten his back to look up and see the sky for the first time in 21 years! He was joyful and a number of us cried in happiness when he showed us how far his recovery had come. Continue reading
  • Daniel Cormier-Pic-Patients

    Daniel Cormier, 40

    Increased the speed of repair from over-training and surgical recovery.
    Daniel Cormier, an Olympic champion wrestler and UFC champion (he holds two titles: light heavyweight and heavyweight champion fighter) used our hyperbaric treatments a week before his big fights, (see his video here) He said it gave him an edge, an advantage. Daniel also came in hobbling one day after having injured his knee while training. After one HBOT treatment, Daniel was able to drive his car again. He also resumed running 5 miles per day, starting the very next day. Although professional athletes often do not like to give away their secrets to prevent their competition from gaining a similar advantage, Daniel is a warm hearted and caring man. Continue reading
  • Dan-Skuta-Pic-Patients-1

    Dan Skuda, 33

    Helped him heal acute injuries that happened while playing professional football
    Dan Skuda, prior NFL player for the 49ers, developed plantar fascitis, a very painful condition causes pain on the bottom of the foot with walking and running. He needed two shots in each foot prior to each game to reduce the pain so he could run. He came to us hoping we could help him out. After his hyperbaric oxygen therapy, he finished the season without shots, without pain and performed better than he had the whole previous season. He is so convinced that it improves his performance that he has installed a hyperbaric chamber in his home in Florida. Continue reading

Get Started with Hyperbarics

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Give us a call

Did a physician refer you? If so, they can download and fax us back a patient referral form. If not, our medical staff will discuss whether hyperbarics is right for you.

2
We talk with your insurance

Our medical staff contacts Medicare or private insurance to receive authorization and create a plan with you.

3
You get on the road to recovery

We do a medical intake, explain everything you need to know, and you get started on your hyperbaric oxygen therapy sessions

Have us call you

Still looking for answers?

To learn more about HBOT, take a look at our FAQs.

View all FAQ’s >

  • What is Hyperbaric Medicine?

    Hyperbaric medicine, also called hyperbaric oxygen therapy or HBOT, is a medical treatment where a patient sits or lies in pressurized chamber and breathes 100% oxygen. In HBOT, oxygen dissolves into the blood, thus raising the oxygen concentration to very high levels.This increased oxygen is a primary building block for tissues, muscle, and bone repair. Among other benefits, it kicks off cell reproduction, heals injuries and infection more rapidly, and decreases inflammation.

  • Can HBOT help Neuropathy?

    Hyperbaric treatments help heal neuropathy by regrowing small blood vessels and nerves that have died from disease, injuries from radiation and aging. Patients often experience numbness and or pain when they start treatment. Hyperbaric treatments most often bring back sensation and make, for example, walking easier and more enjoyable.

  • Does HBOT kill cancer cells?

    Current research indicates that hyperbaric oxygen does not kill cancer cells. However, there has been a small amount of research indicating that hyperbaric oxygen might reduce the size of certain tumors. Also, there has been a study on mice using hyperbaric oxygen, along with a ketogenic diet, to reduce tumors. Hyperbaric oxygen causes many different healing modalities to kick into gear. Could its effect on strengthening the immune system inhibit the growth of cancer cells? Nobody knows. There are numerous studies conclusively showing that hyperbaric oxygen does not encourage cancer cells or tumors to grow. Some patients claim the hyperbaric oxygen makes them feel a lot more comfortable and functional after chemotherapy and also during healing. Note that some chemotherapy drugs are not to be used with hyperbaric oxygen, as the chemotherapy drugs can be enhanced and thus become toxic. A good hyperbaric oxygen facility (such as Bay Area Hyperbarics) will always call the chemotherapy manufacturer to ensure that hyperbaric oxygen therapy will be helpful and not damaging to the patient.

  • Why would a physician consider HBOT?

    A physician would consider using hyperbaric chamber therapy under a variety of situations. Physicians most typically refer patients to hyperbarics when the patient is not healing with traditional medical interventions and hyperbaric chamber therapy is approved by Medicare for this condition.

    Some patients experience significant unresolved pain and unremitting disease states that the mechanisms of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in a hyperbaric chamber are known to affect, such as the down regulation of inflamatory genes. For an example, some patients have experienced severe, unremitting hives with itching, which did not improve with any specialists interventions.

    Some physicians will consider hyperbaric chamber therapy if the patient has no other good avenues for improving their failing health, and they know the hyperbaric chamber therapy is safe and will not harm the patient.

  • What is the CPT code for HBOT?

    The CPT code for HBOT is G0277.

  • What is Hypebaric Oxygen Therapy?

    Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HB0T) is a medical treatment where you inhale 100% oxygen in a chamber with increased atmospheric pressure. HBOT injects 400x the oxygen into your tissues and bones and mobilizes stem cells. It regrows healthy tissues in the brain, blood vessels, skin and bones. It also reduces pain and swelling, and speeds recovery.

    It is simple, effective and painless.

  • Does Medicare cover HBOT?

    Medicare covers Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for approved conditions, and many insurance companies also cover approved conditions. If your condition is not approved by your insurance, we can discuss our special rates. Give us a call at (408) 356–7438. We are happy to discuss your options with you.

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San Jose/Los Gatos Clinic
14589 South Bascom Avenue
Los Gatos, CA 95032

Clinic Hours

Monday-Friday: 5:30 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 7:30 am – 4 pm

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