MD Hyperbaric, which provides oxygen therapy in pressurized hyperbaric chambers at locations around the East Coast, opened in June at 157 Chambers. And it turns out they are booked weeks out. When I stopped in last month, there were already plans to extend hours.

The therapy is used in hospitals for post-surgical recovery and wound healing, often for diabetics, but it is increasing used privately for overall wellness, anti-aging, long covid, concussions, athletic recovery and chronic inflammation. This is the company’s ninth location — the first was on 71st Street — and they are aiming for as many as 15 by the end of the year.

Clients spend 60 to 90 minutes in the steel chambers, breathing in 100 percent oxygen (the air we breathe is 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen) in a pressurized environment (1.5 times the regular atmosphere) similar to scuba diving at about 15 feet. The protocol is set by the company’s offsite medical director; on site is an EMT (Keith Baron, below, ran the hyperbaric chambers at Montefiore for four years) and a site manager (Alexa Jadid, below).

Before entering the chamber, clients are given clothes and socks for cleanliness and safety, then they put a mask on, get closed in and the oxygen flows. They call it a “dive” since most of the research on hyperbaric chambers has come from scuba diving.

The cost is $350 a session, with discounts for packs of sessions up to 40, where it drops to $245 a session. (Insurance does not cover the service outside a hospital.)

Keith said there are short-term benefits — that night, he said, you are sure to sleep like a baby. Long-term, the Mayo Clinic says the therapy enhances the growth of new blood vessels and tissues and supports immune system activity. I think of it mostly as a way to treat decompression sickness, but it also treats carbon monoxide poisoning, tissue infections, brain abscesses, low red blood counts and vision loss from blocked blood flow.

“We have people who come and want 20 sessions — they come every day for 20 days,” Keith said. “It’s like a gym. The more frequently you come, the better the results and the changes.”

MD Hyperbaric
157 Chambers | Greenwich & West Broadway
(212) 256-9535
tribeca@mdhyperbaric.com
Monday to Friday, 9a to 5p