Antibiotics are the established treatment for Lyme disease. HBOT is not a substitute for them, and nothing on this page should delay standard care.
Why HBOT gets raised at all
Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, is microaerophilic — it grows best in low-oxygen conditions and is inhibited by high oxygen tension in the laboratory. That is a genuine, reproducible in-vitro finding, and it is the entire basis for the interest in hyperbaric oxygen.
What the human evidence actually shows
Very little. The most-cited clinical work is a small uncontrolled case series from the 1990s in which some patients with persistent symptoms reported improvement after hyperbaric treatment. It had no control group, no blinding, and has never been replicated in a randomised trial. A laboratory effect on a cultured organism is not evidence of benefit in a person, and the gap between the two here is wide.
Major infectious-disease guidance does not recommend hyperbaric oxygen for Lyme disease, including for persistent post-treatment symptoms. We agree with that reading.
What we tell people who ask
We will not tell you HBOT treats Lyme, because the evidence does not support it. If you are living with persistent symptoms after treated Lyme, the honest position is that this is an area where medicine does not yet have good answers, and where the risk of spending money on an unproven therapy is real. If you want to talk it through anyway, we will give you the same answer in person — free, with no pressure to book anything.
The evidence, honestly
There is little direct evidence yet
Little direct evidence today. We'll tell you that plainly before you spend anything.
Our structured research library — with every study linked from this page — arrives with the next site update. Ask us for the citations any time in the meantime.
Common questions
Does HBOT cure Lyme disease?
No. Antibiotics are the established treatment. No controlled trial shows that hyperbaric oxygen cures or treats Lyme disease, and we do not offer it as a cure.
Is it covered by insurance?
No. Lyme disease is not an FDA-recognised indication for hyperbaric oxygen, so Medicare and commercial plans will not cover it. Any treatment would be self-pay.
But the bacteria die in oxygen — doesn't that prove it works?
It proves the organism is oxygen-sensitive in a dish. Getting sustained, bactericidal oxygen levels into the tissues where Borrelia persists in a living person is a completely different problem, and no trial has shown it happens.
Would you treat me if I asked?
We would talk with you first, for free, and be straight about the evidence. We regularly tell people HBOT is not the right answer for them — that is the point of the consultation.
Educational content, not medical advice — see our medical disclaimer.