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Wellness Benefits of HBOT: What the Evidence Actually Supports

Energy, sleep, recovery, focus, skin, ageing: each wellness claim for hyperbaric oxygen therapy checked against the research, with an evidence rating for each.

Updated September 14, 2026
10 min read
by Hyperbaric.app

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a healthcare professional. Read full disclaimer

Wellness centres promote hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for more energy, better sleep, faster recovery, a sharper mind, healthier skin and slower ageing. For healthy people, none of these claims is backed by strong evidence. Recovery claims have been tested in controlled trials that were mostly negative. The others rest on a small number of studies, often from a single research centre and usually without a sham comparison, run in medical chambers at 2 ATA with 100% oxygen. The mild soft-shell chambers found in many wellness settings have very little research behind them at all.

HBOT does have strong evidence, but for specific medical conditions such as decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning and certain non-healing wounds (see our guide to accepted HBOT indications). This overview rates each wellness claim and links to our detailed articles.

How we rate the evidence

  • Accepted: listed as an indication by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) or the European Committee for Hyperbaric Medicine (ECHM), based on clinical trials and expert consensus.
  • Limited: some positive results, but from small studies, without a sham control, from one research group, or only in people with a specific illness.
  • Not supported: controlled trials have mostly found no benefit.
  • Unproven: little or no controlled research in that setting.

Wellness claims at a glance

ClaimWhat the research showsEvidenceRead more
Faster recovery after exerciseRandomised trials mostly found no less soreness; one review found more soreness when HBOT started immediatelyNot supportedSports recovery
More energy, less fatiguePositive in one sham-controlled long COVID trial; two placebo-controlled trials found no benefit; no controlled trials in healthy people foundLimitedLong COVID, ME/CFS
Better sleepImproved in one long COVID trial and in an uncontrolled review of patients at one centre, mainly in poor sleepersLimitedSee below
Sharper thinkingOne randomised trial in healthy older adults, with no sham controlLimitedBrain health
Healthier skinOne biopsy study in 13 men; appearance was not assessedLimitedAnti-aging
Slower ageingOne uncontrolled study of blood telomeres in 30 older adultsLimitedLongevity
Any of the above in a mild (about 1.3 ATA) chamberVery few small studies; UHMS calls mild hyperbaric oxygen unprovenUnprovenChamber types
For comparison: decompression sickness, carbon monoxide poisoning, selected problem wounds, delayed radiation injuryOn the UHMS list of approved indicationsAcceptedWound healing

1. Faster recovery from exercise

Evidence: Not supported.

This is the most thoroughly tested wellness claim, and the results are disappointing. A Cochrane review of nine small randomised trials with 219 participants found insufficient evidence that HBOT helps delayed onset muscle soreness, ankle sprains or knee ligament injuries. When HBOT was started immediately after muscle-damaging exercise, soreness at 48 and 72 hours was actually higher than in control groups. A 2025 meta-analysis of 10 trials found faster recovery on a pooled measure of muscle injury, but no reduction in soreness.

Our article on hyperbaric oxygen for sports recovery goes through each trial, including the two small studies of mild chambers.

2. More energy and less fatigue

Evidence: Limited.

There are no controlled trials of HBOT for energy in healthy people that we could find. The evidence comes from people with illnesses that cause fatigue:

  • In a 2022 sham-controlled trial of 73 people with long COVID, the energy domain of a quality-of-life questionnaire improved more after 40 HBOT sessions than after sham.
  • Two later placebo-controlled long COVID trials, from Sweden and Belgium, used 10 sessions and found no difference from placebo.
  • In ME/CFS, a 2026 study of 30 patients reported less fatigue after 40 sessions, but had no control group.

Results in sick patients do not tell you what HBOT does for a healthy person who feels tired. See HBOT for long COVID and HBOT for chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.

3. Better sleep

Evidence: Limited.

  • The 2022 long COVID trial found that sleep scores improved more after HBOT than after sham.
  • A 2026 retrospective study from the same Israeli centre looked at 395 patients who had 60 sessions at 2.0 ATA for healthy ageing, long COVID or post-traumatic stress disorder. Sleep questionnaire scores improved in all three groups. People who already slept normally showed minimal change; the gains were in those with disturbed sleep. There was no control group, and the authors called for controlled trials.

So there is a signal in people with poor sleep linked to a medical condition, but no controlled evidence that HBOT improves sleep in healthy people.

4. Sharper thinking and focus

Evidence: Limited.

The key study is a 2020 randomised trial of 63 healthy adults over 64. After 60 sessions at 2 ATA, the HBOT group improved more than the control group in global cognitive function, attention and information processing speed, with increased blood flow in parts of the brain. But the control group had no intervention rather than a sham, and participants knew which group they were in, which the authors list as a limitation. The trial has not, as far as we could find, been repeated by an independent group. Read more in our article on HBOT and brain health.

5. Healthier skin

Evidence: Limited.

A 2021 study took skin biopsies from 13 men in their late sixties before and after 60 HBOT sessions, with a three-month no-treatment period for comparison. After HBOT, the biopsies showed denser collagen, more small blood vessels and fewer senescent cells. The authors note that the skin itself was not evaluated or scored clinically, so the study says nothing about how skin looks. Our anti-aging guide covers what to check before paying for skin or "rejuvenation" packages.

6. Slower ageing

Evidence: Limited.

A 2020 study of 30 healthy adults aged 64 and over reported longer telomeres and fewer senescent immune cells in the blood after 60 sessions. It had no control group, only 25 people were included in the telomere analysis, and measurements stopped 1-2 weeks after treatment. Nobody has shown that HBOT slows ageing or extends life. Our longevity article explains what the study did and did not show.

What about mild chambers?

Evidence: Unproven.

Almost all of the studies above used hard-shell chambers at 2 ATA or more with close to 100% oxygen. Many wellness centres use soft-shell chambers at around 1.3 ATA. The UHMS states that mild hyperbaric oxygen, below 1.5 ATA, is unproven, and that clients in mild chambers usually breathe gas mixes well below 95% oxygen. In a review of unestablished uses, Mitchell and Bennett note that breathing air at 1.3 ATA gives the same oxygen dose as breathing 27% oxygen at normal pressure. Compare the two in our hard-shell vs soft-shell chamber guide.

Why are wellness claims so hard to prove?

Because how you feel is easily influenced by expectation and routine. Sitting quietly in a chamber every day, with staff checking on you, can make people feel better regardless of the oxygen. In the Belgian long COVID trial, some patients in the air-only placebo group reported a significant improvement in wellbeing, but objective scores did not change. In the Swedish trial, both the HBOT and placebo groups improved. Mitchell and Bennett describe the same pattern in sham-controlled trials in other chronic conditions, where HBOT and sham groups often both improved. That is why claims based on how people feel, without a sham comparison, should be treated with caution.

Safety still matters in a wellness setting

  • Side effects. A review of HBOT side effects found that middle ear barotrauma is one of the most common problems, and that temporary short-sightedness is common after several weeks at 2.0 ATA or higher. Oxygen toxicity seizures are rare. See our full guide to HBOT side effects.
  • Fire. In August 2025 the FDA reminded providers about reports of fires involving HBOT devices that caused serious injuries and deaths, and stressed staff training, supervision and hyperbaric-compatible clothing such as cotton.
  • Supervision. The UHMS warns that mild chambers in wellness centres and health spas are generally not physician-prescribed or supervised, and often operate without adherence to fire safety and chamber construction standards.

If you want to try HBOT for wellness

  1. Decide what you want to achieve, and accept that the evidence may not support it.
  2. Ask whether the chamber is hard-shell or soft-shell, and what pressure and oxygen level you will receive.
  3. Ask which study a clinic's claims are based on, and whether its protocol matches.
  4. Make sure someone screens your health first and supervises your sessions.
  5. Get prices in writing and avoid long prepaid packages until you know how you tolerate it.

When you are ready to compare providers, find a hyperbaric clinic near you.

Sources

This article is for information only and is not medical advice. Talk to a qualified physician before starting HBOT for any reason.

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