Floating therapy 'can be useful for people with fibromyalgia'
Relaxing in large sound and light-proof tanks filled with salt water can effectively treat the pain associated with conditions like fibromyalgia, a new report has indicated.
Swedish researchers found that high-salt water floating in emersion tanks reduced the levels of anxiety, stress, depression that people with fibromyalgia experienced. It also lowered their perception of pain.
Sven-Ake Bood of Karlstad University in Sweden explained: "Relaxing in a weightless state in the silent, warm floating tank activates the body's own system for recuperation and healing.
"The stress hormone decreases, as does blood pressure. The findings confirm and reinforce our earlier studies on the effects of relaxing in a floating tank.
"Through relaxing in floating tanks, people with long-term fibromyalgia, for instance, or depression and anxiety felt substantially better after only twelve treatments."
The study showed that 22 per cent of patients treated in the tank for a total of seven weeks said they were completely free of pain. A further 56 per cent showed clear signs of improvement.
"We can also see that a combination of treatment in a floating tank and traditional therapy can be effective," Mr Bood concluded.
An Arthritis Research Campaign spokeswoman commented that the study offered an interesting alternative to traditional treatments which were not particularly effective. The charity is currently funding a major clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a combination of exercise and talking therapies in relieving the pain of fibromyalgia.
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