What Athletes Are Actually Using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy For
A look at the recovery protocol showing up in World Cup locker rooms, NBA training facilities, and in a growing number of Lehigh Valley athletes — and what it means for anyone who takes their health seriously.
About two months ago, Spain's medical director revealed what Mikel Merino does between World Cup matches: Hyperbaric oxygen, chromotherapy and audio-therapy. Merino said: "This is just a small contribution. It's 1%, and you never know how much that might help."
At the World Cup, 1% is the difference between winning and going home, and for most people reading this, the stakes are different but the biology is the same.
What the Research Actually Shows — and What It Doesn't
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy has a well-established evidence base for a specific list of FDA-approved conditions: non-healing wounds, decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, certain severe infections, and radiation injury, among others. That list is well-researched and not in dispute.
What's showing up in professional sports training rooms, a $150 million superyacht featured in Robb Report, and Bryan Johnson's publicly released biomarkers is the evidence base for off-label applications: Cellular recovery, inflammation reduction, neurological repair, skin and tissue regeneration.
The science is not complete and the clinical trials are still underway so anyone who tells you otherwise is overselling.
What's also true: a study published in Nature found that 56–63% of long COVID patients reported meaningful quality-of-life improvements after HBOT. A Beverly Hills surgical group reported 50% fewer post-surgical complications across 500 patients. Dr. Dominic D'Agostino at IHMC (a DARPA-funded human performance research institution) is currently discussing findings from a University of South Florida clinical trial on HBOT for traumatic brain injury. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Philadelphia Flyers both carry active HBOT contracts.
The picture consistently shows that the research is directionally clear even if it is not yet complete.
What Elite Athletes Are Actually Using It For
The Mikel Merino story is useful not because Spain is doing something extraordinary, but because they're doing something documented. Here is what shows up consistently across the athletes who use HBOT publicly:
Between-session recovery
LeBron James. Cristiano Ronaldo. Novak Djokovic. Michael Phelps. The common thread isn't one sport, it's the volume of training and competition. When your body has 48 hours between matches, every cellular process needs to run at its best. HBOT accelerates the clearance of metabolic byproducts and delivers oxygen directly to damaged tissue at the point of repair.
Soft tissue inflammation
This is where the mechanistic case is clearest. HBOT reduces the inflammatory cytokines that slow tissue healing and cause residual soreness. It's why Machine Gun Kelly documented using a hyperbaric chamber to recover from his blackout tattoo sessions and why the Beverly Hills surgical group is seeing fewer complications. It's why athletes returning from soft tissue injuries use HBOT to compress recovery timelines without sacrificing their future ability to play.
Cognitive performance and mental edge
Spain's medical director framed it as recovering from "the stress and physical fatigue caused by matches." A 2024 fMRI review published in Frontiers in Neurology documented measurable improvements in the brain structures that govern executive function, emotional regulation, and memory after HBOT. This past June, Chinese students flooded hospital hyperbaric chambers before their national university entrance exam. The cognitive angle is real, documented, and consistently underestimated, including by athletes, who often think of HBOT as a physical recovery tool and miss half of what it's doing.
Longevity as a cellular foundation
Bryan Johnson completed 60 sessions and posted his results publicly: zero detectable systemic inflammation, a 300% increase in VEGF (the signal for new blood vessel formation), a 1,000% increase in Akkermansia muciniphila gut bacteria, and skin collagen density up 12.8%. He called it "the most efficacious longevity therapy I've done." His protocol ran at a higher pressure than what we offer at Elixir, which is worth knowing, and we'll come back to it.
What a Session at Elixir Actually Involves
Elixir Health and Wellness runs mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy at 1.35 ATA. That distinction matters and we don't shy away from explaining it.
Clinical HBOT at hospital facilities operates at 2.0 ATA and above, with pure medical-grade oxygen, physician supervision, and a corresponding list of contraindications. Mild HBOT at 1.35 ATA is a different setup, a meaningfully different safety profile, a different physiological footprint, and a research base specific to mild pressure. We are not a hospital program, we are a cellular wellness center, and we are precise about the difference.
What to expect:
You enter the chamber, pressure rises gradually over roughly ten minutes (the sensation is similar to descending in an airplane, and equalization is as simple as swallowing or yawning) and you spend 60 or 90 minutes breathing concentrated oxygen at mild elevated pressure. Most clients read, nap, or listen to something. Some fall asleep. You leave without any recovery period required.
We run an intake before your first session, and if you have relevant cardiac history, active ear conditions, or are managing a complex medical situation, we will tell you directly whether we are the right fit or whether a physician-directed program is the more appropriate call.
Who This Is Actually For
Athletes training at volume who need to recover between sessions.
Professionals and entrepreneurs managing the chronic inflammation that comes with a high-output life.
People recovering from cosmetic surgery who want to give their tissue every cellular advantage.
Adults who have started to notice that sleep and nutrition alone are not restoring them the way they once did.
Anyone who has read what Bryan Johnson or Daymond John found and wants the accessible version without the seven-figure protocol budget.
This is not a replacement for sleep, nutrition, or a comprehensive rehabilitation plan. Mikel Merino said it clearly: HBOT is the 1% on top of your foundation. And in our experience running the center for the past almost 5 years, that 1% compounds.
Why Elixir
Elixir Health and Wellness has operated at 1021 Main Street in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania since December 2022, before most people in the Lehigh Valley had heard of hyperbaric oxygen therapy outside of a hospital context. We combine mHBOT with red light therapy and compression therapy in stacked protocols because cellular recovery is rarely a single-modality problem.
We are transparent about what we offer and precise about what the research supports at 1.35 ATA. We do not claim to treat conditions. We support the body's own recovery processes, with protocols designed around consistency and personalization. We also are certified in Health Optimization coaching so can help nudge habits and lifestyle choices to support the outcome you're for in a holistic way.
If you want to understand whether HBOT belongs in your protocol, start with a free consultation.
Book at elixirlv.com or text/call (267) 999-9491.
Elixir Health and Wellness. 1021 Main St., Bethlehem, PA 18018.
Open Monday through Friday, 9:30am–5:30pm, by appointment.
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