Can You Float Away Pain?
By Donna Rae Siegfried
Let yourself go this summer, and you might find that your pain eases. Go ahead. Lean back, close your eyes, tune out the world around you and simply float in a saltwater pool, in the ocean or, if possible, in one of the 60 or so saltwater flotation tanks available throughout the country.
Floating in saltwater increases buoyancy, enabling the body to float weightlessly. In a tank – in which the water contains Epsom salt and is kept at the same temperature as the skin – people report feeling a sense of security and serenity, such as in a womb. They noted the release of stress-related tension, anxiety and pain.”
“The flotation tank blocks out light and sound, and allows people to be still. Both reduced sensory input and reduced body movement are necessary for highly stressed people to experience deep relaxation,” says Sven-Ake Bood, PhD, a researcher in the department of psychology at Karlstad University in Sweden.
People in Bood’s study reported better sleep, more optimism, and less anxiety and depression after twelve 45-minute sessions in a saltwater flotation tank. At the end of the study, 22 percent of those who used the flotation tank were pain free, and 56 percent had less pain. Nobody in the control group, which read quietly for 45 minutes, showed any improvement. The beneficial effects lasted for four months after treatments stopped.
Where to find flotation tanks
