Flotation therapy as treatment for concussions
WorkSafeBC Evidence-Based Practice Group, Martin CW
Record ID 32018005174
English
Authors' objectives:
To determine whether there is any evidence for the efficacy and/or effectiveness of flotation therapy for treating patients with concussions.
Authors' results and conclusions:
Float therapy involves “floating” in a water-filled sensory deprivation tank, also called a floatation tank or isolation tank. The tank is filled with warm water saturated with Epsom salt, which gives the water buoyancy, allowing one to float effortlessly. The salty water is heated to match the temperature of your body (https://www.health.com/mind-body/floatation-therapy; https://www.verywellhealth.com/float-therapy-overview-benefits-and-risks-5212782). No published study on flotation therapy was identified in our search. At present, there is no published evidence on the efficacy and/or effectiveness of float therapy to treat patient with concussion.
Authors' methods:
A systematic literature search was conducted on commercial medical literature databases on May 30, 2023. The search was undertaken by employing combinations of keywords. No limitation, such as on the language and year of publication, was implemented in this search. With regard to expert and/or systematic review articles that were identified in our literature search, instead of appraising and summarizing these articles, we decided to trace and retrieve the relevant primary studies included in these review articles. These manually retrieved primary studies were then appraised and summarized when appropriate. We also manually searched the references of all the articles that we retrieved in full for further potentially relevant primary studies.
Details
Project Status:
Completed
URL for project:
https://www.worksafebc.com/en/about-us/research-services/evidence-based-medicine-and-systematic-reviews
Year Published:
2023
English language abstract:
An English language summary is available
Publication Type:
Mini HTA
Country:
Canada
MeSH Terms
- Brain Concussion
- Brain Injuries, Traumatic
- Hydrotherapy
Keywords
- concussion
- mild traumatic brain injury
- float therapy
- floatation tank
- isolation tank
Contact
Organisation Name:
WorkSafeBC
Contact Address:
6591 Westminster Highway, Richmond, BC, V7C 1C6 Canada. Tel: 604-231-8417; Fax: 604-279-7698
Contact Name:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Contact Email:
ebpg@worksafebc.com
Copyright:
WorkSafe BC
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA or other HTA producer. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.