Ronaldo was injured in the final of the UEFA Euro 2016 as Portugal defeated France to lift the trophy. He has since been on holiday taking a well-deserved break from the action but that has not stopped him from trying to do everything he can to recover as soon as possible.
According to Marca, the Portuguese is currently undergoing hyperbaric oxygen therapy at a clinic in his current vacation spot Ibiza. It comes as little surprise to see the 3 time Ballon d “Or winner trying innovative methods to get back to full fitness.
HBO is a technique which involves the patient inhaling pure oxygen in a pressurized tube or room. It is generally used to treat decompressed sickness in Scuba drives but it has other applications as well.
Marca has said the pure oxygen helps an injury heal quicker but there is no real proof of the treatment reducing the recovery time of physical or ligament injuries.
An unnamed spokesperson from the clinic told Marca “Thanks to hyperbaric medicine the regeneration of tissue and recovery from injury is stimulated, reducing in this way the risk of future injury and physical deterioration, This speeds up the recovery time. Today this is one of the most effective complementary therapies in injury recovery.
There is still no news of how bad the ligament strain really is. Both the Portuguese FA and Madrid have not released a statement about the status of his injury and when he will be able to return.
But there are reports suggesting he will miss most of the pre-seasons friendlies for Real Madrid. The 31-year-old has had several problems with his knee in the past. The most notable one was the one he suffered before the Champions League final
Ronaldo had apparently asked Madrid to hire his personal physio as one of the medical staff because of his strained relationship with the Los Blancos’ medics. There were even rumours he was considering going to Barcelona to seek the aid of the Catalan's medical staff.
