There are many such stories of sports heroes using float tanks to recover from disabling injuries — everything from  English soccer star Wayne Rooney crediting a tank for returning him from a sprained ankle “weeks ahead of schedule” in  In 2008, to Phillips Idowu recovering from a back injury before winning silver in the Olympic triple jump in Beijing.  These are  certainly exceptional cases,  but the human mind and body is an extraordinary system.  Evidence abounds that relaxation and positive visualization are  strongly beneficial for healing.  The float tank is an ideal environment for both.

In one of the larger studies to date,  the Swedish research group of Sven-Aker Bood found lasting reduction of pain & soreness - participants reported an average of 45% less pain continuing four months after a programme of floating twice a week, 12 times in all.  In 2008,  the same group interviewed seven subjects with chronic pain from whiplash injuries,  about their experiences being treated with 45 minute flotation sessions.  “The effects of the flotation-REST treatment  improves the participants’ experiences …  in terms of pain reduction, stress management, changed attitudes, renewed coping strategies, openness to perceptions,  and the sense of a centered self.” [2]