DETROIT – Float therapy is growing in popularity, and many well-known athletes are swearing by it. While more research needs to be done on the benefits, a lot of people are giving it a try.
Local 4's Sandra Ali found out why some Metro Detroit residents are turning to float therapy.
High-intensity athletes, such as football players, first made float therapy popular, but now many people who don't even play sports are trying it out to help their bodies and minds.
Ashley Baas was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis four years ago. She's been struggling to find relief from the chronic pain.
"It does leave my with all-day pain everywhere," Baas said. "Stiffness with joints, and stress does not make it any better."
Since she had tried just about everything else, Baas turned to float therapy. She noticed a difference after three weeks.
"My knees weren't as stiff as they usually are," Baas said. "My feet didn't hurt as bad. I definitely did feel like I was detoxified."
At True Rest Detroit, the float tanks are filled with hundreds of gallons of water and 1,000 pounds of epsom salt, making the water so dense that people can't sink.
"So you're in an environment where there's 1,000 pounds of epsom salt in about 10 inches of water and that much salt water, you're able to float," said Jeff Krause, of True Rest Detroit. "Anybody's able to float."
After showering to remove any makeup and body oil, floaters put in earplugs and climb into the water.
"Magnesium is absorbed through your skin, so actually, at first, you feel it come up and it just dissolves and dissipates, which is a beautiful thing," Krause said.
The float tanks, or pods, can be left open. While someone is inside, they don't feel the water or see or hear anything. People have described the experience as floating in space.
"To be able to just shut down for an hour from all that and just kind of decompress, it's almost just like hitting that reset button on your computer," Krause said.
The float tanks aren't just for athletes. Matt Egrin said he floats to reduce stress.
"For me, it's for the relaxation, and I'm also a regular meditator so it's a really good supplement to my meditation practice," Egrin said. "So I'll use my time in the pod to meditate. If I have a particularly good float where I kind of go deep into a meditative state, I come out and, again, just very mellow and unexcitable, just very blissful, calm, relaxed state that carries on for the rest of the night."
"I think what's really interesting is that a lot of people are getting away from pain medication, such as opioids or drugs for anxiety," Krause said. "We're certainly not against medications, but a lot of people are looking for an alternative to those types of things to deal with chronic pain or to deal with stress and anxiety."
The New England Patriots introduced float therapy back in 2014 at their own facility. Tom Brady apparently has his own floating pod at home. He told reporters he feels that it helps keep him at the top of his game.