Hyperbaric oxygen is the city’s new wellness fad

There are roughly a dozen locations across the city offering the therapy to customers looking for solutions to a range of ailments outside of a doctor's referral and willing to pay cash. At least eight new clinics have emerged along a strip of Manhattan’s East Side from the 30s to 80s with more in Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens. One company, MD Hyperbaric, sees roughly 20 to 30 new patients a month at its flagship location on East 72nd Street, which brought in roughly $260,000 last year in net earnings before taxes, interest and other expenses, according to its CEO, Chris Neal. In June, the company opened a second, 1,000-square foot site in Tribeca to capture a wider swath of city residents. “We service a market in hyperbaric where there is really no access to care” Neal said. “Hospitals and wound care clinics typically won’t accept those patients.” MD Hyperbaric sells 60- to 90-minute sessions for an average of $350 a piece, which its clients pay for entirely out-of-pocket. The company’s website says most patients should have between 10 and 40 sessions to support anything from orthopedics to anti-aging and cognition. (The company avoids the word "treat" because many of the effects have not been proven, Neal said.) Approximately 70% of the company’s clientele are self-directed, coming to the clinic without a physician’s referral, Neal said. The remaining 30% are mostly from surgeons looking to improve healing outcomes. Many of those are plastic surgeons seeking reduced bruising or scarring following a cosmetic procedure. One plastic surgeon, Kassir Plastic Surgery, which has an office on East 66th Street and another in Ridgewood, N.J., offers the service in-house, according to its website. Other companies, like Restore Hyper Wellness, a franchise with six locations in the city, use a milder form of the therapy using a soft sack with less pressure and lower concentrations of oxygen. Clinics like MD Hyperbaric, which also has franchises outside the city, charge less than hospitals that bill $1,000 or more for a session, although insurance often mitigates the cost to patients. The clinics run a leaner ship than hospitals, due to having both less overhead and fewer billing staff – one of the benefits of not dealing with insurance companies, Neal said. They also don’t require prior authorization because their services are off-label, making it easier for clients who can afford it to make an appointment without a referral. The new trend has raised questions about safety due to the high pressure and oxygen levels that make the chambers susceptible to combustion without the proper precautions. Last week, a 43-year-old physical therapist in Arizona died in a chamber that caught on fire, and in February a 5-year-old boy in a Michigan clinic was killed when a vessel exploded. Users also face health risks associated with rapid depressurization. Clinics may take their own precautions but few standards are in place to govern off-label uses. MD Hyperbaric has a doctor screen every client’s medical history to ensure an appropriate match and follows state fire codes in line with guidelines from the National Fire Protection Association, a national nonprofit that advocates fire safety, including around the use of hyperbaric oxygen, Neal said. For many clients, the experience is mild. In addition to its physical effects, some people find an hour in the tank tranquilizing. “People aren’t really going to hyperbaric for a dopamine hit, although I feel extremely relaxed coming out of it,” Neal said. “Who knows if it’s the oxygen or just having time with yourself.”