Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is being explored as a long COVID treatment. Here’s what the research shows

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is being explored as a long COVID treatment. Here’s what the research shows

Some clinics are touting pressurized oxygen chambers as a treatment for long COVID, but the evidence is mixed

M. Martinez had been living with long COVID for 18 months when he was referred to emergency medicine specialist Craig Lindsey’s hyperbaric center in Santa Fe, N.M. A 49-year-old court professional, Martinez (first name withheld for privacy) had become so cognitively impaired that he could no longer work full-time or drive, and he feared he might have to move into a memory care facility.

But after eight weeks of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)—a treatment that involves breathing pure oxygen under elevated pressure in a specialized chamber— two thirds of his neurocognitive test scores returned to the normal range, and he resumed working and driving.

Stories like Martinez’s are fueling interest in HBOT as a treatment for long COVID, a broad constellation of symptoms, including brain fog and debilitating fatigue that affects millions of people worldwide and has no clear remedy.

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HBOT is proven to help heal several medical conditions including decompression sickness from diving (aka “the bends”), carbon monoxide poisoning and diabetic wounds. But the evidence for HBOT as a long COVID treatment is mixed.

Several biologically plausible mechanisms for hyperbaric therapy’s effects on long COVID have been proposed, although none have been proven.