How do flotation tanks help to relieve pain?

Flotation therapy suspends the user in a gravity free environment. This promotes a deep level of relaxation, which prompts the body to naturally speed up the healing process.  They help you achieve such a deep state of relaxation, it can help relieve chronic pain, including back pain.

Back pain and other physical aches are alleviated by the relaxation you achieve inside our flotation pods. When gravity is absent, there is lower pressure on the joints, leading to tension relief as the tissues and muscles relax. Back pain is particularly responsive to this therapy.

The effects of gravity on bones, joints, and muscles are entirely removed while floating. This works to improve your circulation and allows the body to rejuvenate and heal. Research shows that floating measurably reduces your blood pressure and heart rate while at the same time lowering stress levels and reducing chronic fatigue and pain.

Studies have shown that both blood pressure and pulse are lowered through a flotation treatment, resulting in greater circulatory efficiency. Since both heart rate and blood pressure tend to be higher in the presence of pain, flotation therapy counteracts the pain response by decreasing both of their levels.

Studies show effectiveness of flotation

There are a number of studies out there that show the effectiveness of flotation therapy when it comes to increasing relaxation and thus decreasing pain. Researchers Thomas H. Fine and Roderick A. Borrie, Ph.D., conducted a study on REST therapy and found that the effects of flotation therapy clearly indicate how powerful relaxation can be in healing the body. The authors examined patients who had mostly been experiencing chronic pain for greater than 6 months. Upper back pain was reduced in 63.6% of cases.

A fibromyalgia study from 2012 assessed the responses of 81 patients who went through three flotation sessions. The vast majority of participants reported an improvement in their sense of wellness and a decrease in pain after finishing the therapy. Additionally, their amount of pain continued to decrease throughout the three sessions; the reported average pain rating was lower prior to entry for the 2^nd and 3^rd floats.

Flotation therapy can be especially effective in relieving back pain when it is combined with other treatments such as massage therapy and chiropractic care.

Review from one of cloud 10’s customers:-

“This was my first experience of floatation, in fact it wasn’t even something I had ever considered, but I have for the last 3 years suffered with back and sciatic pains. My son bought me this experience as a Father’s Day gift, thinking it may help with my aches and pains and I must say I think I may be converted.

I have tried many treatments over the years for my pain but this experience is very different.
I would say the physical aspect of floating with a straight back and being weightless was really helpful, but also and maybe more relevant is the mental aspect to it. You completely switch off and through deep breathing your mind drifts and wanders into all sorts of relaxing places and makes you feel totally in control and completely relaxed.
When I left I felt rejuvenated and not just physically but mentally cleansed.” – David Lilley