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Oxygen and hyperbaric oxygen: approved uses, and the rest

Medical oxygen and hyperbaric chambers have real, cleared uses. The list is specific, and everything outside it is a claim.

Established Reviewer pending Updated 2026-11-05

Author: ProperHealth editorial desk, prepared at the request of Arshad Tariq, RPh (Clarkson Pharmacy). Reviewer: pending. Editorial pieces are opinion informed by the sources listed; they are not medical advice.

Two different things travel under the word "oxygen therapy". One is medical oxygen: a treatment that provides you with extra oxygen to breathe in,1 used for conditions that lower blood oxygen such as COPD, pneumonia and late-stage heart failure, and only available through a prescription from your health care provider.2 The other is hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT): breathing pure oxygen in a pressurised chamber.

What hyperbaric oxygen is cleared for

HBOT is used to treat certain serious wounds, burns, injuries and infections;3 it also treats air or gas embolisms, decompression sickness suffered by divers, and carbon monoxide poisoning.4 As of July 2021 the FDA has cleared hyperbaric chambers5 for a specific list of such conditions. When HBOT chambers are used for indications cleared by the FDA, HBOT is generally safe, and serious complications are rare.7

What it is not cleared for

Chambers are promoted for autism, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Lyme disease, long COVID, sports recovery and "anti-ageing". The FDA has not cleared or authorized the use of any HBOT device to treat COVID-19 or any conditions beyond those listed above,6 and MedlinePlus records the same: the FDA has not cleared or approved the use of HBOT for these conditions.8 Being inside a chamber for an uncleared purpose carries the chamber's ordinary risks — ear and sinus injury, oxygen toxicity, and fire — for a benefit that has not been shown.

The "oxygen model" of disease

Some integrative writing, including parts of the archive this site preserves, treats oxygen deficit as the root of most chronic illness and oxygen-raising therapies as the remedy. That is a hypothesis, not an established finding; it sits beside the specific, cleared uses above and should not be confused with them. The collection page shows that writing in its own words.

What this means for a reader

If a doctor prescribes oxygen or refers you for hyperbaric treatment for a cleared condition, that is standard medicine. If a centre sells chamber sessions for a condition not on the cleared list, ask which trial supports it and what it costs; the honest answer is usually that the evidence is not there yet.

References

Each passage was checked word for word against the saved copy when this page was built.

  1. 1 MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine), "Oxygen Therapy": “treatment that provides you with extra oxygen to breathe in.” source
  2. 2 MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine), "Oxygen Therapy": “It is only available through a prescription from your health care provider.” source
  3. 3 MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine), "Oxygen Therapy": “HBOT is used to treat certain serious wounds , burns , injuries, and infections.” source
  4. 4 MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine), "Oxygen Therapy": “It also treats air or gas embolisms (bubbles of air in your bloodstream), decompression sickness suffered by divers, and carbon monoxide poisoning” source
  5. 5 FDA consumer update, "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Get the Facts" (2021 text, archived copy): “As of July 2021, the FDA has cleared hyperbaric chambers” source
  6. 6 FDA consumer update, "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Get the Facts" (2021 text, archived copy): “has not cleared or authorized the use of any HBOT device to treat COVID-19 or any conditions beyond those listed above.” source
  7. 7 FDA consumer update, "Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Get the Facts" (2021 text, archived copy): “When HBOT chambers are used for indications cleared by the FDA, HBOT is generally safe, and serious complications are rare.” source
  8. 8 MedlinePlus (U.S. National Library of Medicine), "Oxygen Therapy": “Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not cleared or approved the use of HBOT for these conditions.” source