Report: Ronaldo undergoes hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat knee injury

Cristiano Ronaldo is taking an alternate route in the road to recovery as the Portuguese and Real Madrid star undergoes hyperbaric oxygen therapy to treat his injured knee.

The injury occurred in the first half of the Euro 2016 final against France when Dimitri Payet collided with Ronaldo, forcing the distraught forward to leave on a stretcher just 24 minutes into the contest.

Spanish outlet Marca reports that Ronaldo has elected for the alternate treatment in an effort to speed up the recovery time as he attempts to repair the reported ligament strain in his left knee.

Despite the expected accelerated recovery, Ronaldo will reportedly miss Real Madrid's pre-season, with Marca suggesting he may not be fit enough to play the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla on Aug. 9.

While the procedure has not been clinically proven to resolve such an injury, patients are generally put inside a hermetically sealed hyperbaric chamber, where breathing pure levels of oxygen will supposedly help injuries heal quicker as oxygen increases in the blood.

Marca, as translated by ESPNFC, outlines the supposed benefits of the procedure: "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," an unnamed spokesperson for the clinic told Marca. "This speeds up the recovery time. Today this is one of the most effective complementary therapies in injury recovery."

While neither Portugal or Real Madrid has commented on the injury, Ronaldo will hope the procedure can ensure he's fit for Real Madrid's first Liga match against Real Sociedad on Aug. 21.