Alun Wyn Jones, Wales and British Lion rugby player, has been using a Henshaw Deep Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy chamber for a few years as part of his recovery regime, not only for sports performance but for his overall health and wellbeing too.

Alun Wyn has been aware of HBOT and its use by elite sportspeople in the USA for many years. He said: “I think my earliest memory was seeing NFL and NBA players using HBOT at home and I was amazed that they had such high-tech facilities in their own homes.

“Fast forward 10-15 years and I find myself using something similar in my own home.”

But Alun Wyn didn’t always have a chamber installed in his own home. His first experience of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy was through a charitable-run HBOT facility in Swansea, where he was advised to go by his medical team so he could incorporate HBOT into his injury recovery programme.

In 2021, when Alun Wyn was hit by another injury just before the Six Nations Championship, he contacted Henshaw Hyperbaric Chambers to have a Henshaw Deep installed in his home to support his recovery plan.

He told us: “I was able to use it steadily twice a day during my recovery period of three weeks, which was hugely beneficial to me. I combined it with physio, a mobility programme, hot and cold therapy and good nutrition.

“I was able to make a quick comeback and made it back to feature in the first game of the 2021 Six Nations – a championship we went on to win that year!”

Alun Wyn continues to use his Henshaw Hyperbaric chamber once or twice a week. He explains: “I feel so refreshed when I come out of the chamber. It’s become a lifestyle habit for me now. I have the HBOT chamber, a jacuzzi sauna and a cold bath, and I use all of these regularly – they are all part of a well-rounded recovery plan for me.

“People often ask me how hard I train, and my response is, ‘It depends on how hard I recover’.”

We asked Alun Wyn for his thought about the future of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and he told us:

“I think it’s going to become a staple part of the recovery programme for sports people. It will just become the norm, in the same way hot and cold therapy is.

“I think it will become a mainstream therapy for anyone wanting to improve their overall health and well-being, not just elite athletes.

“I can definitely feel the difference when I am using HBOT for general recovery between training and matches. I don’t think you can underestimate the psychological benefits of zipping yourself up and getting away from the world.”

You can watch Alun Wyn’s full story here…