Oxygen is essential to life. In fact, oxygen is in such a constant demand that its absence brings death in minutes. Cellular oxygen levels are critical for cellular peak performance as well as repairing soft tissue and skeletal injuries. Oxygen therapy has become one of the more effective forms of alternative medicine to enter the medical spotlight in the last 30 years due to its many potential uses. Hyperbaric therapy, ozone therapy, and oxidization therapy are all used in the medical community for an assortment of injuries and illnesses. Many of the advocates of oxygen therapy feel that its potential uses are limitless.
In the last decade, competitive sports and other physical activities have risen to a new level of physical demands resulting in increased intensity and repetitive loading (often overloading) – both escalating incidence and prevalence of injuries. Consequently, there is an increasing need to develop superior treatments that allow injured athletes to recover and return to competition faster than with the traditional course of rehabilitation and with a low risk of re-injury.