Millions of people are in chronic and persistent back pain, which has reached epidemic proportions. Additionally, our society is now experiencing an opioid crisis as a reflection of the way in which chronic back pain has been both misunderstood and managed. Insurance companies have historically only contributed to the problem through the imbalanced reimbursement for pain pills, MRI’s and injections compared to physical, behavioral and exercise therapies.  

Unprecedented measures by primary care and medical pain management professionals are now taking place to find complementary methods to co-manage the mind and body implications of chronic pain.  Many are finding incredible value and results for chronic back pain with floatation therapy. 

A recent case study, performed at The Float Zone, in Richmond, VA is an excellent example. In this landmark November 2017 case study, the objective was to observe the effects of four (4) weeks of floatation therapy upon chronic low back pain and the collateral effects of sleep, depression and anxiety.  A secondary objective examined if there is any difference between floating one (1)  vs. two (2) times a week for the same time period.

All the subjects in this case study had chronic pain greater than 5 years, which is considerably more time than the definition of chronic pain which is more like 12 weeks. This should also be noted with respect to the 4 week case study period, considered a minimalistic time frame to determine outcomes in musculoskeletal medicine.

The study concluded that floatation therapy, otherwise known as floating, has a direct and positive effect on reducing chronic back pain, while also improving sleep quality, anxiety and depression. Float frequency does appear to make a difference, whereas floating twice weekly for a four week period had a more pronounced effect than one float per week for the same timeframe.

Patients, medical professionals and alternative health care providers should consider floatation therapy by itself and in tandem with other mind/body approaches to manage chronic back pain.

Click to read the Case Study Abstract or contact the author, Dr. David Berv, for more information on floating and chronic back pain, including the full results of this case study.

To learn more about this pain case study or other pain case studies, visit our Case Study results page.