My Experience in a Los Angeles Deprivation Chamber

The Experience I Had In an LA Deprivation Chamber

Back pain is something I’ve dealt with down to my tailbone. And I’ve dealt with it through therapy. When I couldn’t afford therapy, I used tennis balls until they wore bare, turned raquette.

When it comes to any sort of medical trauma, I’m very skeptical of any solution. But somehow, the benefits of a deprivation chamber made it past the filter. They’re simple enough.

You’ve got -

A Tank. To fill with water, large enough so you won’t touch the edges. Completely enclosed.

Water. Deep enough to float in.

Salts. Which increase the density of the water, allowing you to float - no effort.

Put all these ingredients together, heat that water to the temperature of your body, and there’s a supposedly magical art that comes out when you lay in - you forget you have a body. It all sounds like some kind of abstraction - Orwellian invention, but it’s not complicated.

When the water is heated to the same temperature as your body it’s easy to not really feel your body, or be aware of it. When you’re floating in the water without effort, it makes it even easier. In complete darkness, it’s hard to tell what’s actually you. The device is often called an isolation chamber but deprivation chamber is a much more accurate title because it deprives you of your senses. This very aspect is the benefit of a deprivation chamber. It eases your physical pain.

I found a reputable deprivation chamber clinic in Los Angeles and went for it. At the facility I waited just the same as if I were in line for a haircut. A few minutes later, a woman lead me down to the deprivation room.

The isolation tank itself was installed along the wall. There was a zen statue, smooth stones around, a little cheesy - but that’s the charm of suburbia.

After a rinse, I went inside.

The door closed behind, me, in complete darkness. Make no mistake. Salt and air is thick, but with each breath it felt like a passage in me, long unused, was breathing again, deeper than ever. When I caught the rhythm I realized that I could only feel my arms and legs when I moved them. Other than then, my body was just that - completely out of mind.

Then the second wave hit.

In a completely dark room - you don’t know how big it is. It felt like I was in a stream, a wide one, completely dark, and though I was absolutely still - it felt like I was moving down the river. When your eyes are open but can’t see, they start to make it up. Soothing shapes, rolled past my vision. Although I knew it was all my own imagination, there was nothing terrifying about it. It was a journey that kept giving.

My hour visit felt like an entire afternoon. Seconds had expanded their fingers into hours.

After it was over I took a shower to rinse off the salts. After that I just paid and left. But in the car, when I sat down something felt different, or I remembered something. The entire time I spent in the deprivation chamber, I forgot about my back pain. Completely.

In the month after it took a lot of convincing from my wife to actually have a deprivation chamber installed in my home. It was going to cost but she convinced me of the worth.

I worked with Los Angeles bathroom remodeling company Novel Remodeling. Now, I'm able to use my isolation tank almost daily. And I’m glad I do because the benefits of a deprivation chamber build over time.

If you think a deprivation tank sounds like something you’d like to install into your bathroom remodel, try one out for yourself first. Once you have, contact Novel Remodeling to get your vision going.