Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Sports Recovery: What Athletes, Clinicians, and Teams Should Know

A medically grounded look at recovery, tissue repair, professional sports use, and the limits of current evidence

Medical note: This article is educational and is not medical advice. Sports recovery is not a generally accepted stand-alone indication for HBOT. Treatment decisions should be made by a qualified physician and hyperbaric team.

Why recovery matters in modern sport

Professional athletes are asked to train, travel, compete, and recover on compressed schedules. In soccer, tournament play can place important matches only a few days apart. That reality has pushed teams to examine every reasonable recovery tool—from sleep, nutrition, hydration, and physical therapy to oxygen-based treatments.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has attracted attention because it exposes a patient to 100% oxygen in a chamber pressurized above normal atmospheric pressure. Under those conditions, the amount of oxygen dissolved in plasma rises substantially, allowing oxygen to reach tissues through mechanisms that go beyond hemoglobin transport alone.

How HBOT may support repair

HBOT can temporarily increase tissue oxygen availability and influence several biological processes involved in wound repair. Research in established medical indications shows effects on edema control, inflammatory signaling, angiogenesis, fibroblast activity, collagen formation, and host defense.

Those mechanisms are relevant to injured tissue, but a plausible biological mechanism is not the same as proof that HBOT improves every athletic injury. Sports injuries vary widely. A ligament sprain, muscle strain, contusion, tendon problem, postoperative wound, and concussion are not interchangeable, and they should not be marketed or treated as though one protocol fits all.

What the sports-recovery evidence shows

The evidence is promising in some areas but remains mixed.

A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis reported that HBOT produced statistically significant improvement in recovery from exercise-induced muscle injury, but it did not improve delayed-onset muscle soreness. A separate 2025 review focused on high-performance athletes concluded that the overall evidence remains limited for musculoskeletal injury and mild traumatic brain injury.

A 2024 double-blind randomized trial in elite youth football players studied one HBOT session after a match. The study provides useful sport-specific data, but one small trial cannot establish a universal recovery protocol for professional teams.

Older controlled studies have also produced negative or modest findings. Some found little or no meaningful improvement in muscle soreness or broad recovery markers. That inconsistency is important. HBOT should be presented as a medically supervised adjunct in selected cases—not as a guaranteed shortcut, replacement for rehabilitation, or routine performance enhancer.

Potential benefits being investigated

Depending on the injury, timing, pressure, number of treatments, and the athlete’s medical status, researchers have investigated whether HBOT may help:

• increase oxygen delivery to compromised tissue;• reduce swelling in selected acute injuries;• support wound healing after surgery or trauma;• influence inflammatory and repair signaling;• assist rehabilitation when tissue oxygenation is impaired; and• shorten return-to-play time in specific injuries.

The strongest support for HBOT remains in recognized medical indications. Routine post-game recovery, uncomplicated muscle soreness, and general athletic performance are not currently standard UHMS indications.

How professional soccer is using oxygen-based recovery

Professional soccer teams increasingly use sophisticated recovery programs. Public reports have described club players using hyperbaric chambers, and Liverpool players were reported to have used them during the 2024–2025 season as part of recovery planning.

During the 2026 World Cup, reporting on England’s recovery program described oxygen therapy alongside physiotherapy after matches. Public reports do not always specify whether “oxygen therapy” means a clinical hyperbaric treatment, normobaric oxygen, or another oxygen-based recovery system. For that reason, it would be inaccurate to claim that World Cup players broadly use HBOT unless a team or player confirms the chamber type and protocol.

The correct takeaway is narrower: elite soccer programs are actively evaluating oxygen-based recovery strategies, and some professional players and clubs have publicly used hyperbaric chambers. Their use demonstrates interest—not proof of effectiveness for every athlete.

HBOT is not the same as a mild wellness chamber

Medical HBOT is generally delivered in a hard-sided chamber under a physician-directed treatment plan, using pressures and oxygen exposures appropriate to the condition being treated. Mild-pressure chambers marketed for wellness or home use may operate at lower pressures and may not deliver the same oxygen dose.

Facilities, clinicians, athletes, and families should ask what pressure is being used, what gas the patient breathes, who prescribed the treatment, who supervises it, and what safety standards govern the chamber and oxygen system.

Risks and medical screening

HBOT is usually well tolerated when properly prescribed and supervised, but it is not risk-free. Potential complications include ear or sinus barotrauma, temporary vision changes, oxygen toxicity, confinement anxiety, blood-glucose changes in susceptible patients, and rare pulmonary complications.

An untreated pneumothorax is an absolute contraindication. Other conditions and medications require individual review. Athletes with recent surgery, respiratory illness, ear problems, seizure history, diabetes, or suspected concussion should be evaluated by qualified medical professionals before treatment.

A responsible role in an athlete’s recovery plan

HBOT should sit behind the fundamentals, not replace them. Sleep, nutrition, hydration, diagnosis, load management, physical therapy, and gradual return-to-play decisions remain the backbone of sports recovery.

Where HBOT is considered, the best practice is a coordinated plan involving a physician trained in hyperbaric medicine, the sports-medicine team, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and the athlete. Treatment goals should be specific and measurable, and progress should be reassessed rather than assumed.

The bottom line

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has credible biological effects and established value in several serious medical conditions. In sports medicine, early research and selected clinical experience suggest potential value for certain injuries and recovery situations, but the evidence does not support sweeping claims.

Professional athletes may use HBOT because even a small possible improvement can matter at the elite level. That does not make it a guaranteed cure or a substitute for conventional care. The responsible message is clear: HBOT may be a useful adjunct for properly selected athletes when prescribed and supervised by qualified medical professionals.

References

1. Luo X, et al. Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy on Exercise-Induced Muscle Injury and Soreness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40784513/

2. Johnson-Arbor K, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for high performance athletes. 2025. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41223395/

3. Gušić M, et al. Effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy on recovery after a football match in young players: a double-blind randomized controlled trial. 2024. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11534614/

4. Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Indications. https://uhms.org/resources/featured-resources/hbo-indications.html

5. Bennett M, et al. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy for delayed onset muscle soreness and closed soft tissue injury. Cochrane review. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16235376/

6. Babul S, et al. Effects of intermittent exposure to hyperbaric oxygen for the treatment of an acute soft tissue injury. 2003. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12792207/

7. Webster AL, et al. Effects of hyperbaric oxygen on recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage in humans. 2002. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12011721/

8. Moghadam N, et al. Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in Sports Musculoskeletal Injuries. 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31876671/

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