The Mindful Migraine

A couple of years ago (when I was still only getting occasional migraines), my family bought me a 3-pack gift card to a float tank as a relaxing treat.  My first thought was terror; I had a mental image of a giant silver bullet filled with water that you climbed into and people in white coats then spun a circular hatch to lock you inside.  The reality was vastly different.  Instead, where I went, everyone gets their own room, with a shower and a pool-bath in it.  The pool is big enough for two people to float in without bumping the edges.  The pool was about thigh-deep and filled with very warm water filled with Epsom salts (pure magnesium sulphate) which allows you to float on the water’s surface.  Each session lasts about 1 hour.

Before getting into the pool, you take a shower to wash your skin clean then pop in earplugs to keep the salty water out.  Next, you step into the pool and lie down, with a pillow to support your neck and head.  Where I was, there was an option to have ‘spa’ music or silence (I chose music for the first and last 10 minutes but silence for the 40 minutes in between).  Whilst the room was fitted with very low-level lighting, there was also a light switch in the pool that let you turn the lights off so you could float in sensory deprivation.  It was incredibly relaxing to float in the silent darkness.  I had the odd sensation that I was in outer-space, experiencing solitude and weightlessness.

At the end of your session, you shower again to get the salt off.  Beside the lobby there was a loungeroom where you could rehydrate or have a complimentary cup of herbal tea and potentially chat to others who were waiting for a massage.

Overall, I highly enjoyed the experience.

Other float experiences I saw online swap the pools for pods (but not scary metal ones).

Regardless of the setting, the water remains the same; filled with salt that is full of magnesium and sulphates which are absorbed through your skin for therapeutic benefits.

Note: Floating is not suitable for everyone (individual places have their own list of exclusions, but open wounds, pregnancy, epilepsy, vertigo, incontinence, and extreme anxiety are often mentioned).  Be sure to check with float-staff or your doctor before trying floating.

As much as I enjoyed the experience, once the three visits were done, I have not gone back.  The reasons were simple and complex.  At the simple end is the cost; it’s not cheap.  More complicated was that the location was hard to get to with irregular parking opportunities, so getting there and home was a bit stressful, and took some of the joy out of the experience.  Also, on the third visit I began over-thinking germs breeding in the warm water, and as per karma’s cheeky ways, it was on this third visit that one of my earplugs must have moved and I got a mild ear infection.

Here’s a TED talk about the benefits of float tanks, or ‘float therapy’, and how they reliably reduce an anxious and stressed nervous system:

The Amazing Thing That Happens When You Disconnect | Dr. Justin Feinstein | TEDxSalem (youtube.com)

Below is a link from a float lab (different to the one I went to) that tells you of the advantages of regular floating (once or twice a week for 4 weeks):

Floatation Therapy For Chronic Headaches | Float Lab

And another (from another float lab I haven’t been to) that has a migraineur’s review:

MIGRAINES VS THE FLOAT TANK – Salt Float Studio

Curious to know if anyone else found float tanks beneficial for migraines.