League One side Gillingham kicks off with The Oxygen Clinic

Gillingham FC have announced a ground-breaking partnership with The Oxygen Clinic in Paddock Wood, Kent, to provide Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to their injured players.

The League One outfit become the first professional football club to partner with a specialist HBOT clinic. The agreement will give the Gills’ squad access to state-of-the-art hyperbaric chambers to speed their recovery from injury throughout the season.

Adam Roche, First-Team Physiotherapist at Gillingham, said: “This partnership gives the club access to revolutionary HBOT treatments which can dramatically reduce the recovery time for injured players.

Wagstaff in a hyperbaric chamber at The Oxygen Clinic.

“We face a gruelling season and keeping our squad fit, and minimising the impact of injuries, will be crucial to our success.”

HBOT is widely used by football stars including Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo to improve the speed of recovery from injuries including muscle tears, tendon damage and even bone fractures.

The therapy gives players access to chambers that are filled with pure oxygen at high pressure. The oxygen is dissolved into the blood and tissues, stimulating the healing process by aiding the growth of new blood vessels and boosting the number of white blood cells to fight infection.

The Oxygen Clinic has been treating Gillingham’s summer signing, Scott Wagstaff, for the past four weeks. The midfielder, 26, injured his Achilles tendon seven minutes into a pre-season friendly against Billericay back in July.

Medical specialists estimated Scott would be out of action for up to 12 weeks.

However; following a successful course of treatment, which saw Scott undergo daily hour-long sessions of HBOT six times a week, Wagstaff made his competitive debut against Bradford City on Saturday – a full six weeks ahead of schedule.

Wagstaff mades his Gills debut against Bradford City at the weekend.

Wagstaff said, “I tried to push off and felt my Achilles tendon pop – I was devastated because I’ve just signed for the club and I want to make a big impression this season. The HBOT I’ve received has been sensational.

“The physios have all been very surprised at the speed of my recovery and how quickly the strength has returned to my muscles. I’m thrilled that I’ve returned to action so much earlier than anticipated.

“Now that the injury is behind me I can focus on contributing to the team’s efforts for promotion this season and hopefully scoring some goals too.”

The Oxygen Clinic is located in Paddock Wood, Kent, easily accessible from the M20, but in a private location so discretion is assured. For more information and to book a free initial consultation please visit www.theoxygenclinic.co.uk, call 0330 016 1000 or email info@theoxygenclinic.co.uk.