Injuries are common in athletes, whether you are a high-school football player or a professional soccer player. However, once the injuries affect the body, the consequences are directly seen in the performance of the athlete. When the injury is not healed properly, this impact is also prominently observed in life quality. These common and grave mistakes influence the life of athletes strongly, so much so that many athletes start suffering significances or pain of injuries daily.
When a soccer athlete suffers from ACL or anterior cruciate ligaments, football athlete experience concussions, baseball athlete suffers from elbow or shoulder pain, or swimmers experience swimmer’s shoulder, proper recovery is needed. For this reason, these athletes seek various therapies to enhance the body’s healing process and improve the potential to recover completely.
One such therapy is HBOT therapy, which delivers extra oxygen to the body and helps in wound-healing and recovery. This article will discuss how beneficial are hyperbaric chambers for athletes.
How Beneficial Are Hyperbaric Chamber for Athletes?
Hyperbaric chamber for athletes is a medium to heal multiple sports-related injuries such as concussion, traumatic brain injury, and muscle injuries. Let’s study the impact of HBOT therapy in detail.
1. Rapid Recovery
Whenever an athlete completes training, competition, or conditioning sessions, the body of this individual is extremely stressed. This is why recovery becomes mandatory to maintain a healthy structure.
For example, mountain climbers are expected to take a few days off to rest to allow the body to heal properly. In fact, basketball players are even known to skip full games to recover at the time of long game seasons.
However, recovery is not as simple as it sounds. To maintain athletic performance, individuals are often suggested to receive active recovery regimen such as hyperbaric chambers for athletes than passive recovery sessions. Cristiano Ronaldo followed the same active routine to improve the recovery cycle of his knee injury. He was able to get back to work much faster when compared to other players.
Here’s how HBOT can improve recovery speed:
- Improved activation of stem cells.
- Rapid cartilage and bone regeneration.
- Decreased exhaustion and fatigue.
2. Better Healing
Whether the individual is an athlete in rock climbing, football, or running, injury can happen at any point in time. Athletes can’t avoid injury completely. Hence, minor and major injuries and recovery from these injuries become a part of their sports activities.
The traditional method for injuries such as muscle strain, ACL, cartilage damage, etc. is to rest and rest some more. Without proper rest, the body can’t heal the damaged tissues and other body parts. However, hyperbaric chambers for athletes can help in achieving healing quickly through improved oxygen supply.
According to this report, sports-related injuries are better healed with HBOT therapy because it delivers pure oxygen at 2.4 ATA pressure. This helps the oxygen to enter plasma, blood, and cerebral fluids of the body, which improves the flow of oxygen in the body. As a result, even cells that were getting low oxygen supply earlier start receiving proper oxygen, which promotes healing.
3. Improved Performance
Multiple athletes only turn to HBOT therapy to receive better performance. The traditional method for this is to receive training at higher altitudes because it enhances the production of red blood cells, which improves oxygen levels of the blood. The sophisticated method for this is to use hyperbaric chambers for athletes to improve oxygen levels in the body, hence, increase performance.
4. Healing Concussions
When athletes suffer from severe injuries such as concussions, HBOT therapy can help. Concussions are traumatic brain injuries that negatively impacts the human brain. This means that the athlete can suffer issues such as headaches, loss of memory, focus problems, etc.
One NFL player, Joe Namath, suffered a similar injury, which led to focusing problems, memory loss, anxiety, and irritability. He started using HBOT therapy and that helped him in relieving most of his symptoms.
5. Other Reasons
Various athletes utilize hyperbaric chambers to follow a strict workout regimen and avoid injury in the body. This means that these athletes get into their HBOT chambers once they have completed their strict workout sessions.
For example, Rafael Soriano is known to often use HBOT chambers to relax after a hectic game or work out. He says that he feels a lot better after the therapy. In fact, he feels a little less exhausted during rigorous training schedules due to HBOT.
Conclusion
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used to accelerate healing and reduce inflammation in the human body. Due to an increased amount of oxygen, tissues, and cells of the body can receive proper oxygen supply, which improves recovery. However, before using hyperbaric chambers for athletes, it is necessary to consult a doctor to avoid side-effects and contraindications.
