Hyperbaric oxygen chambers are popular among biohackers and wellness enthusiasts, but do they work? Here's what happened when an editor tried it.
I never considered myself claustrophobic until the door was shut. "Once I close this, you can't come out right away," an attendant told me as she stood outside my hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Next Health longevity clinic. Immediately, I asked for clarification. I was told that the chamber, once locked, would need time to depressurize, and I was given a walkie talkie to communicate with the staff if I needed to get out. The stakes felt much higher and the walls tighter all of a sudden, but for the sake of longevity and journalism, I gave it a try. Hyperbaric oxygen chambers aren't new to the world of medicine. In medical or hospital settings, the therapy has been used throughout history (since 1662) to treat serious wounds and tissue disease. It also been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for several conditions, including carbon monoxide poisoning, severe wounds, and decompression sickness for deep sea divers. But now, trendy clinics like Next Health are offering it to wellness buffs looking to reap the chamber's potential benefits. Experts Featured in This Article: Darshan Shah, MD, is the co-founder and CEO of Next Health. Amesh Adalja, MD, is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. Ernest S. Chiu, MD, is a professor at the Hansjorg Wyss Department of Plastic Surgery at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and director of the Kimmel Hyperbaric and Advanced Wound Healing Center. "One of the biggest advantages to this therapy, and what it's best known for, is its ability to accelerate recovery and reduce inflammation," says Darshan Shah, MD, co-founder and CEO of Next Health. For that reason, HBOT has become particularly popular outside of the medical setting among professional athletes and biohackers to enhance recovery time and keep the body at peak performance levels, he explains. "Whether you're recovering from an intense workout, surgery, or an injury, the increased oxygen levels help repair…