BREAKING: AP Puts Michael Phelps in the Wrong Kind of Chamber

USA Today, the Washington Post, and hundreds of media outlets this afternoon are running an Associated Press (AP) story that incorrectly identifies the medical device used by 16-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps as a hyperbaric chamber. The device, Phelps said, simulates an altitude of 8,000 feet. That would make it a hypo- not a hyperbaric chamber.

[Photo: Michael Thomas, AP]

Super Bowl Postscript: The Last Play of the Last Game

Hyperbaric oxygen may have played a role in what some call the biggest story of Super Bowl XLVI. Last night's game ended with a Hail Mary pass to an injured Rob Gronkowski, who set a regular-season record for tight ends with 17 touchdown catches. This wasn't one of them. Nursing a high ankle sprain, Gronkowski finished just two catches for 26 yards in the Super Bowl. A wonder he played at all. Add him, with an asterisk, to our list of NFL stars using hyperbaric oxygen chambers. Or so one orthopaedic surgeon guesses. Dr Paul Cain, head of sports medicine at Central Maine Orthopaedics, explains the severity of Gronkowski's injury and the probable use of RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), a walking boot to immobilize the ankle, ultrasound, and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Read "Super Bowl: Auburn doc talks Gronkowski sprain" in the Lewiston (Maine) Sun Journal.

[Photo: Richard Mackson, US PRESSWIRE]

Super Bowl, Super Hype, Super Violative NFL Promotion of Mild Hyperbaric Bag

We've grown accustomed to people hawking mild hyperbaric bags on the web with utter disregard for applicable laws against off-label promotion. Manufacturers, resellers, entrepreneurs, fraudsters, quacks—they fight amongst themselves for the attention of unsuspecting healthcare consumers. It's a brisk trade.

Now the National Football League has published this video testimonial by Cleveland Browns linebacker D'Qwell Jackson. It crosses a line. By posting its 28 December profile of Jackson, the League has become complicit in the violative promotion of a medical device.

The NFL has not yet responded to our repeated email and voicemail messages.

Again, we concur with the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology's April 2011 position statement on Portable, Low-pressure, Fabric Hyperbaric Chambers. See our recent posts from 30 January, "Football Injury Rehab: Bad Information Sparks Silly Debate About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy," and 22 January, "NFL Divisional Playoffs: Which Players Are Using Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers?" Learn more about hyperbaric chamber manufacturers and hyperbaric chamber types on HyperbaricLink.com.

CAUTION: The following promotional video clearly violates FDA regulations. Portable, inflatable, fabric chambers are FDA-cleared for acute mountain sickness only. They're not safe for unattended self-treatment at home. They're certainly not safe to sleep in. And no hyperbaric chamber is approved for the treatment of Jackson's torn pectoral muscles or other such sports-related injuries.

Football Injury Rehab: Bad Information Sparks Silly Debate About Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

Now that the Pro Bowl is over, most star NFL players can limp into the off season and head home to nurse their injuries. Many of them were lucky to make the final game at all. One of them, supposedly with the help of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, was Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte. (See our December 18 post, "Off the Football Field and Into the Hyperbaric Chamber.") Earlier this month, local PBS affiliate WTTW spun the Forte story into an odd debate between wound care physicians at a community hospital and a major academic medical center. Click play to watch the video below. Read the full Chicago Tonight story here.

We have a few quibbles:

• Forte likely self-administered mild hyperbaric therapy in a zip-up bag at home, not in a pressure-safe chamber at a hospital. Learn more about hyperbaric chamber types.
• Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is not indicated for the type of knee injury Forte suffered. Learn more about FDA clearance and UHMS approval.
• University of Chicago wound care director Dr Lawrence Gottlieb seriously misrepresents the state of clinical evidence in the peer-reviewed medical literature on the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen for chronic wounds, diabetic ulcers, radiation injury, and associated infections. Learn more about diseases and conditions treated with hyperbaric oxygen.
• WTTW reporter Paris Schutz wrongly concludes that only community hospital wound centers use hyperbaric oxygen chambers. Consider local university-affiliated hospitals like Loyola, Northwestern, and the University of Chicago's own NorthShore system, and national academic powerhouses like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Virginia Mason.

We are grateful none the less for the link to the HyperbaricLink treatment center directory. On our website all interested readers will enjoy access to important clinical information and other reliable resources to set the record straight.

NFL Divisional Playoffs: Which Players Are Using Hyperbaric Oxygen Chambers?

Are you ready for some football? Many NFL stars these days don't feel they are unless they've spent some quality time in a hyperbaric chamber, either to recover from sports injuries or to enhance their game performance. We find there's not much clinical evidence to recommend hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for these uses. But to find out which Ravens, Patriots, 49ers, and Giants think differently and routinely use HBOT, or even own chambers, we turn to the Hyperbaric Therapy Center. Here's the lineup:

Baltimore: L.J. Smith and Ray Lewis.

New England: Albert Haynesworth, Herana-Daze Jones, and Shawn Springs.

San Francisco: Madieu Williams, Patrick Willis, Tony Parrish, and Vernon Davis.

New York: Hakeem Nicks and Mathias Kiwanuka.

We cannot confirm this list, and all names and spellings are the Center's. Most or all of these players use zip-up bags, or mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy chambers, as does the Center. Here's what we have to say about mild HBOT on our About HBOT page:

So-called mild HBOT, or mHBOT, is administered in inflatable bags that operate with room air (21% oxygen) at slightly increased pressure (< 1.5 ATA). Some mild hyperbaric devices are FDA-cleared for the treatment of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). None is FDA-cleared to treat any other disease or condition.

In our opinion a mild hyperbaric device cannot safely deliver a therapeutic dosage of pressure. Using medical gases or oxygen concentrators with mild hyperbaric devices may also create a safety hazard. UHMS warns that hyperbaric treatment should not be self-administered or administered by nonprofessionals in the home. Also, we run across too many quacks and fraudsters in the mild HBOT and personal hyperbarics community. Their claims are as wild as their HBOT is mild. Still, many people with many diseases and conditions have reported real health benefits with mHBOT, and we eagerly await the publication of new clinical evidence.

This information echoes the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology (NBDHMT), the chief certifying body for hyperbaric medical technologists. The NBDHMT stresses important safety issues in its April 2011 Position Statement on Portable, Fabric, Low-pressure Hyperbaric Chambers. Safety is of special concern when such devices are used for self-care at home alone.

None of these facts or opinions are stopping mild chamber manufacturers from recruiting NFL players and other sports celebrities to promote their devices for off-label uses. Every day the league and the FDA let it slide. We'll have more to report on this front before Super Bowl Sunday.

[Image: NFL.com]

Off the Football Field and Into the Hyperbaric Chamber

Here in Chicagoland we know it's way too late in the season to save the Bears. But here's hoping Matt Forte finds a speedy recovery in a borrowed hyperbaric oxygen chamber for his Grade 2 sprain of the medial collateral ligament in the right knee. Coaches and trainers aim to get him back into the lineup by Christmas. Read "Forte doing all he can to heal quickly: Bears running back using ex-teammate's hyperbaric chamber" in the Chicago Tribune. Forte is using a chamber owned by defensive tackle Tommie Harris of the San Diego Chargers. The article names the more prominent NFL players using HBOT (or too often, mild HBOT) for performance enhancement and postinjury rehabilitation.

Sports Training: Hypobaric Chamber Like High Altitude

Yesterday's tennis story in the Wall Street Journal has taken the web by storm. Here come yet more questionable claims about sports training with pressure. But this time, much to our relief, it's a hypo- rather than a hyperbaric chamber in the media spotlight. What's not to like about star athletes and secret egg-shaped pods? Never mind the tennis phenom in question denies using the thing.

Essentially the CVAC pod is a vacuum chamber. The computerized device also employs "a patent-pending methodology that applies rhythm-based changes to pressure, temperature and air." Occupants hope to gain competitive advantage by simulating the lower atmospheric pressure some athletes experience when training at higher altitudes.  

WSJ reporter Hannah Karp plays pretty loose with hypo- and hyper- and references to oxygen. Favorite quote:

In 2006 the World Anti-Doping Agency ruled that such oxygen tents enhance performance and violate "the spirit of sport," but did not add them to the list of banned substances and methods, saying they would wait until further studies were conducted.

Click PLAY to watch the video below. We replicated the collapsing water bottle trick earlier this month, when descending from the High Sierra to the Central Valley of California.

Restorix Health Mixes It Up In Greater Seattle

Suddenly one ambitious new HBOT clinic in Issaquah WA has become the darling of the local newspaper and the chamber of commerce, and raised the hackles of one leading authority in hyperbaric medicine. Restorix Health opened in December with "the largest collection of large monoplace chambers in the country" (6 Perry Sigma 40s) and plans "to lead the country in research using hyperbaric chambers to treat soldiers with traumatic brain injuries" and other investigational conditions by opening "15 to 20 new clinics along the West Coast in the next five years." Followup coverage last week ballyhoos the center's Innovation in Issaquah award for "space-age medical research."

UHMS past president Dr Neil Hampson is having none of it. Read his letter to editor of the Issaquah Reporter (see also our appreciation of his Virginia Mason program). Hampson casts doubt on Restorix's business model and its clinicians' research credentials, concluding:

I am skeptical that the Restorix Foundation will be capable of underwriting the expense of quality research in hyperbaric medicine, as I would be about most foundations in this country. My strongest hope is that they do not plan to charge patients for experimental treatment.

Restorix Research Institute chief medical officer Tommy Love shot off a quick rebuttal, insisting his studies (4 in the works) will be IRB-approved and peer-reviewed, adding:

Our research studies will never charge patients to participate.  Dr. Hampson’s claim that only large institutions can do credible research is simply untrue.

We're captivated by the debate and eager to learn more about the privately funded research Restorix has in the works.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

HBOT Operational At The Tiger Woods Mansion

Okay, we're feeling a little icky about relaying this tabloid dreck (again!), and we really can't explain why it's in the news (again!), so we've backdated it 48 hours. Let's hope beyond hope we never again stub our toe on a line like: "He has a Michael Jackson hyperbaric chamber."

Now please accept these links as a hyperbaric reminder that, when it comes to HBOT, all your average man and woman on the street knows is Jacko and maybe the local football star slept in one. And when it comes to improving HBOT awareness and education, we've all got our work cut out for us—and miles to go before we sleep, and miles to go before we sleep.

O2.0 is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

HBOT Attracting More And More NFL Players

So it took us a few extra weeks to get into this football season, after the first signs of a change in the weather and the first Michigan victory—or maybe it's all this talk about hyperbaric oxygen therapy. HBOT has been blitzing the sports blogosphere. It's rather predictable and pedestrian stuff over at Skinny Post. All the usual suspects. But the Washington Post's Dan Steinberg raises some interesting questions about players' differing "beliefs" in HBOT for speedier rehab from injury and, more surprising, their worries that hyperbaric oxygen may suddenly be banned like other performance enhancing drugs. We've often wondered the same.

O2.O is the news blog of HyperbaricLink, the independent web guide to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

LeBron Disses HBOT To Peddle Vitamin Water

Please don't watch if you can't take a joke. A pretty funny spot, really. And goodness knows we've dipped our skewer in the cheese so have no right to complain. But word to King James: We'll match the medical literature on HBOT against the medical literature on antioxidants any day of the week.

HBOT For Bone Fracture: Fundamental Mechanisms

Out of Taiwan comes a new study with new insights into precisely how hyperbaric oxygen helps fractured bones heal. Scientists observed in vitro cultures of specialized bone-producing cells, called osteoblasts, under normal conditions and with hyperbaric oxygen. They found that "the proliferative effects of hyperbaric [oxygen] on osteoblasts may contribute to the recruitment of osteoblasts at the fracture site."

HBOT has long been used to treat broken bones associated with crush injuries, compartment syndrome, and other traumatic ischemias. Many hyperbaric physicians and patients claim HBOT accelerates the healing process. This primary research may support such claims by describing how hyperbaric oxygen stimulates the fundamental mechanisms of bone production.

A quick Google Scholar search shows nearly 7,000 articles on "hyperbaric AND fracture." Surely the next 7,000 will cite this study. And so will we, in a Bone Fractures page, coming soon to the HyperbaricLink Diseases and Conditions section.

HBOT In Sports: From Stanley Cup To World Cup

A few weeks ago Chile's top scorer Humberto Suazo, nursing a torn hamstring, was looking iffy for the World Cup in South Africa. But he responded quite well to treatment, "including oxygen therapy sessions in a hyperbaric chamber designed to speed up recovery."

Suazo is playing if not scoring as Chile, fast becoming the international fan favorite, faces Spain this Friday.

In other HBOT sports news, Philadelphia Flyers right wing Ian "Lappy" Laperriere almost got knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs after receiving a hard blow to the face and a mild concussion. For speedier recovery he turned to HBOT at Hyperbaric Therapy USA, Newtown Square PA. Here's the local TV interview, in the chamber:



Philly ended up losing the Cup to the Chicago Blackhawks, but Lappy skated his heart out right to the end, earning the title Toughest Player in the NHL for the 2009-2010 season.

Mixed Martial Arts: From Octagon Cage To HBOT Chamber

Punches, kicks, elbows, knees—mixed martial artists take more physical punishment in one 5-minute round than most athletes endure in a lifetime, and today's top cage fighters are helping popularize hyperbaric oxygen therapy for rapid rehabilitation and superfitness training.

In Saturday night's pay-per-view bout, HBOT maven Urijah "The California Kid" Faber (photo left) was gunning to reclaim his featherweight championship title from Brazilian phenom Jose Aldo. Faber lost by unanimous decision. But by 4 a.m. the next morning he was already telling his 40,000 Twitter followers he was in the hyperbaric chamber to reduce swelling in his badly bruised left thigh. In 2009 he had overcome a fractured hand and climbed back into contention with the help of hometown physicians at the Hyperbaric Oxygen Clinic of Sacramento. Our hats off to the man.

Veteran cagefighter and broadcaster Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg (photo right) uses his personal chamber to enhance his training methods and is endorsed by OxyHealth Portable Hyperbarics. The leading manufacturer of mild hyperbaric (mHBOT) chambers has sold over 7,000 units in the last 10 years.

Accelerated healing. Superhealth and fitness. Elite athletics. Personal hyperbarics. Once more we find common clinical practice running at a breakneck pace ahead of the scientific evidence, and the mainstream HBOT market struggling to catch up with a whole new generation of healthcare consumers, inspired by celebrities and moving fast in social networks. It's not the blood sport for everybody. But we can't seem to look away.

Tiger Woods: New (Unpaid) HBOT Spokesman

In his pre-Masters press conference the golf great, by way of denying any illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs, says hyperbaric oxygen "helps you heal faster." Okay. Apparently it helped Tiger rehab from knee surgery and an achilles tear in 2008-2009. And he's certainly not alone. We've been following a long line of top athletes, from Australian cricketers to Superbowl stars to mixed martial artists, who swear by HBOT for speedier recovery. More soon.

But we're of a mind that HBOT is also a performance-enhancing therapy, akin to blood doping and this plasma-spinning thing Tiger's into. Even horse racing officials ban animals from competition for days or weeks following hyperbaric treatments. (Read our horse stories HERE.) We're especially fascinated by the rise of portable/personal hyperbarics for rehabilitation, performance, superhealth, fitness, anti-aging, wellness, and a host of other lifestyle applications.

Look for related blogposts and conditions pages as we dig and collect new HyperbaricLinks on this subject.

Topfen: Part Of This Complete Breakfast

Laugh if you want, but Lindsey Vonn just won Olympic gold thanks in part to an Austrian cheese spread. Trainers slathered the yogurt-like topfen or quark on her badly bruised right shin to reduce swelling. Our favorite (serious) explanation of the treatment, from Slate:

In all likelihood, topfen's physiological benefits redound to its spreadable texture. Unlike other cultured dairy products like buttermilk or firm cheese, topfen can be slathered on like any other medicinal cream. When chilled, the product would feel cool on an inflamed limb and act as a mild analgesic. The cheese may also simply serve as a placebo, providing a small degree of mental comfort to an injured athlete. Since the brain plays such a significant role in the perception of pain, even discredited therapies can be slightly effective in treating injuries like Vonn's, where pain is the primary factor preventing peak performance.

We're loath to judge, considering that milk, honey, cereal poultices, and live maggots still pass for modern wound care in certain corners of the world. And there's no arguing with Vonn's success in the downhill.

Super Bowl XLIV: Saints, Colts Stars Betting On HBOT

Both teams in tomorrow's Super Bowl have a lot riding on the success of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Besides a pretty nifty ring, one winner may also claim the title of HBOT Poster Boy.

Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney is using HBOT to speed healing of a swollen right ankle. This week ESPN blogger Paul Kuharsky (photo right) posted a fun story about his own chamber experience after sampling Freeney's treatment protocol.

New Orleans Saints safety Darren Sharper actually sleeps in a portable chamber, not to rehabilitate from any injury but to supplement his strict diet and fitness regimen. He's only too happy to tell you all about it on YouTube (video below).




Once again we're full of questions about the efficacy of HBOT for speed-healing and the rightful place of mild (mHBOT) portable chambers and personal hyperbarics in this rapidly growing field of medicine. It'll be fun trying to catch up to all the professional athletes who swear by it.

Aussie Cricketer Dominates Holiday HBOT News

All through December about the only thing our usual newsfeeds wanted to know was, Will the Australian cricket skipper Ricky Ponting be healthy for the Boxing Day Test? To speed healing of a strained tendon in his elbow Ponting spent the night of his 35th birthday in a hyperbaric chamber. Seems to have worked. Yes, he played December 26, and played brilliantly, by all reliable accounts.

So we add another high-profile testimonial to a growing list of elite athletes using and promoting hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). And it's not just a fad. More and more professional athletes, trainers, and sports medicine professionals are choosing HBOT as an alternative or adjunctive treatment for sports injury rehabilitation. Even if claims of speedier healing don't find much support in the clinical literature, there's no stopping a trend this strong.

We're fascinated by the growing popularity of HBOT for sports rehabilitation. But could hyperbaric oxygen be considered a kind of performance-enhancing drug, like blood doping? Does room air at mild pressure (mHBOT) do any good? What dosages of pressure and oxygen work best for various types and severities of injury?

In time, today's active practitioners will find the answers in the clinic and spread the word among their peers. We're on the beat and on the side of healthcare consumers seeking useful information and easy connections to local clinics and physicians.

Wired: How Smart Is That?

Hey, we display this magazine on our coffee tables! HBOT landed the 3 Smart Things About column in the September issue of Wired. Okay, so we're a little miffed HyperbaricLink didn't make the shortlist. But we're not at all surprised autism and sports injuries captured the editors' imagination over all the really smart things about hyperbarics. All those professional fighters and ballplayers using inflatable chambers can't be wrong, we guess they guessed. Awesome illustration, though.

What would make your list of 3 Smart Things About Hyperbaric Chambers? This blog has a comment section, you know.