The Craziest Things Athletes Have Used to Try and Heal Their Bodies

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Athletes Who Have Used It: Gilbert Arenas, Terrell Owens, Michael Phelps

What It's Supposed To Do: Hyperbaric oxygen chambers are designed to help more oxygen get into your bloodstream. The thought is that that additional oxygen can then be used to heal soft-tissue injuries more quickly than usual.

Athletes have actually been using hyperbaric oxygen chambers for years now. They've become more popular in recent years with more and more athletes buying them for their homes. But this Sports Illustrated article from all the way back in 1994 proves that athletes have been turning to them for more than two decades. And they swear by them. The problem: Athletes do need to be monitored while using them, because putting too much oxygen into the blood can cause things like brain seizures. But when used properly, they seem to be helpful.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Novak Djokovic

What It's Supposed To Do: It's essentially a hyperbaric oxygen chamber on steroids. In addition to filling the blood with more oxygen, the CVAC Pod also uses a vacuum pump, which is supposed to help the muscles in your body feel like they're at a high altitude. They're constantly being compressed by the pod, which reportedly helps you to improve your fitness levels while you rest. The pods are also said to have a positive impact on your lymphatic system, which drains metabolic waste from your body.

We'll never know if these pods actually work. Because as of right now, there are less than 100 of them in the entire world. Also, they cost about $75,000. But Djokovic swears by his and claims that resting in his CVAC Pod helps "with recovery after an exhausting set." The World Anti-Doping Agency hasn't banned the pods just yet, but they have said that they may be considered a performance-enhancing device sometime in the near future.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Ray Lewis (allegedly), Roy Williams, Several unnamed players from Alabama's 2012 national championship team (allegedly)

What It's Supposed To Do: A company called S.W.A.T.S. (Sports with Alternatives to Steroids) created a deer antler spray that features high levels of IGF-1 in it, which is said to help athletes recover quickly from injuries and get stronger. Lewis reportedly used it two years ago to help him recover from a torn triceps muscle.

Using deer antler spray to try and heal injuries just sounds sketchy. But according to S.W.A.T.S., it really works and helped Lewis get back out onto the field in 2012 (Lewis denies the allegations). S.W.A.T.S. says that they use a velvety substance that grows on the antlers of deer in New Zealand to create a spray that features an undetectable version of IGF-1—a banned substance in the NFL—which helps players heal injuries very effectively.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Kobe Bryant, Alex Rodriguez, Tracy McGrady

What It's Supposed To Do: The controversial treatment—which is a form of platelet-rich plasma therapy that is typically administered in Germany—involves removing blood from a patient's body, using a machine to extract "IL1-RA" proteins, which help reduce inflammation within the body, and then injecting those proteins back into the troubled area of body, like the knee or the hip. It is shown to reduce inflammation for several years at a time.

Regenokine is not currently used in the United States. And that means that, if players want to try it, they have to travel to Germany to do it. Many athletes, like McGrady, have reported that it really does help reduce pain in the knee. But because it's not a complete fix, athletes need to make additional trips to Germany to have the treatment done whenever knee pain returns, which means that they'll never be 100 percent again. Because of its success rate, though, there is a chance that this treatment could be done in the U.S. sometime in the future.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Diego Costa, Robin van Persie, Frank Lampard

What It's Supposed To Do: "Medical miracle worker" Marijana Kovacevic claims that horse placenta fluid can be used to help repair damaged cells quickly. So if you have, say, a torn hamstring that would typically require you to sit out four weeks or more, horse placenta treatment is supposed to drastically reduce that time frame and get you back out onto the court or field quickly.

The idea of putting horse placentas—or hell, any kind of placentas in or on our bodies—just seems strange. But many European soccer players swear that it's effective and routinely take trips to Serbia to meet with Kovacevic. If Costa is able to return to the field soon, we'll be convinced.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Bartolo Colon, C.J. Nitkowski, Peyton Manning

What It's Supposed To Do: By taking fat and bone marrow stem cells from a healthy part of a patient's body, doctors are able to inject both of those things into damaged parts of a person's body in order to promote faster healing.

Colon's MLB career was over back in 2010 as a result of a series of torn ligaments in his throwing arm and a torn rotator cuff. Like, over. But thanks to the stem cell therapy he received, he was able to work his way onto the Yankees roster and start his career again. There is a pretty big risk associated with stem cell therapy, though. Specifically, some doctors believe that tumors could form as a result of a person having it, which is why it's not something that's currently advocated by many medical professionals. So while Colon's success has encouraged others to try it—and while Peyton Manning used a form of stem cell therapy to heal his injured neck recently—it'll be a long time before stem cell therapy is used frequently in pro sports.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Steve Finley, Craig Counsell, Darin Erstad

What It's Supposed To Do: According to Layers of Light International—the makers of the pouches—the minerals within each pouch are supposed to provide a "layer of protection against many harmful external energy intruders that attack our bodies on a daily basis." They are also supposed to help players feel stronger when they wear them and improve the alignment of the body and mind.

Some of the things that are included on this list have been scientifically proven to help athletes heal their bodies. And at the very least, some of them at least sound like they could help heal the body. But a pouch full of minerals? Uhhh…Do you guys want to buy some magic beans while you're at it?!

Athletes Who Have Used It: Bernie Kosar, Kevin Turner, Other anonymous former NFL players

What It's Supposed To Do: Chronic traumatic encephalopathy—aka CTE—is a neurodegenerative disease that affects a lot of former NFL players. It causes things like dementia, memory loss, and depression. But a doctor named Dr. Rick Sponaugle from Cleveland, Ohio has developed a test for CTE—which can usually only be diagnosed after death—as well as a secretive group of supplements that can actually treat CTE.

Dr. Sponaugle's quest to cure CTE is a noble one. And according to Kosar, his treatments really work. Dr. Sponaugle essentially designs custom supplements for his patients, who pay a lot of money (out of desperation) to try and eliminate CTE from their brains. But there are no proven studies that show that Dr. Sponaugle's treatments really work, which makes it kind of risky for former NFL players to agree to take an IV filled with supplements that are not technically approved by the FDA or anyone else.

Athletes Who Have Used It: Juan Manuel Marquez, Moises Alou, Jorge Posada

What It's Supposed To Do: According to Marquez, he used to drink his own urine while training for matches because that's "where a lot of proteins and vitamins" ended up. Meanwhile, Alou, Posada, other Major League Baseball players have admitted to peeing on their hands before games because they claim it helps toughen up their skin.

This might just be the weirdest sports "treatment" of all. We love that guys like Marquez and Alou are clearly willing to do anything to gain an advantage in their respective sports. But if you're an athlete and you, at any point in time, find yourself yourself using the bathroom and think, "You know, I really should be using all of this urine instead of wasting it," you have crossed a line. Just say no…to drinking/rubbing your hands with your own urine!

Athletes Who Have Used It: None who have actually admitted it (Brandon Marshall once revealed that he knows quite a few guys who use it, though)

What It's Supposed To Do: In addition to helping athletes in, uh, other areas, Viagra also helps deliver oxygen to the muscles. So there are some athletes out there who reportedly use the sexual enhancement drug in order to speed up their recovery time after workouts.

If this doesn't show you how desperate some athletes out there are when it comes to healing their bodies, nothing will. Viagra?!