Something in the world of floating have you stumped?
Show Highlights
Graham and Ashkahn talk about the different situations they’ve encountered with elderly floaters.
Listen to Just the Audio
Transcription of this episode… (in case you prefer reading)
Graham: … and today’s question for you or, I guess, for us is, “is there an upper age limit on floating?”
Ashkahn: Upper age limit on floating. What is the oldest age someone can float?
Graham: Is allowed to float.
Ashkahn: Is allowed to float. I see. It’s an interesting one, because you can’t really apply the same logic you apply to like youngest age. For youth, you can just use real numbers, I think, because there’s like laws and there’s … But with old age, I feel like that it’s much more contextual, about the person and kind of what state their body is in and stuff like that. Like it almost has less to do with actual specific age and more to do with their physical state.
Graham: Yeah, and I guess the concerns would be that like either someone’s mentally not there and something’s going to go wrong, or they’re just not going to be like … I remember hearing a horror story about someone with dementia floating and coming to in the float tank and her not realizing where she was, or like how she’d gotten there, which is kind of crazy.
Ashkahn: Wow. Yeah, interesting.
Graham: So there’s like mentally not being there, and then also just on the physical side, right? Being a little more fragile, or … You know, we have a lot of slippery salt water, so the idea of someone slipping and breaking their bones just becomes more of a concern the older they get.
Ashkahn: Or not being able to get out, you know?
Graham: Yeah.
Ashkahn: Like your body just got used to not dealing with gravity for a little bit …
Graham: And then saying it’s done. I’m never going to deal with gravity again.
Ashkahn: And, I mean, incontinence, I guess, is the last thing on the list.
Graham: Sure, yep.
Ashkahn: Those are probably like the main concerns, I would say.
Graham: And again, none of these are specific to age, which I guess makes it an interesting question, right?
Ashkahn: Right.
Graham: Like you can imagine a 20-year-old who has some or all of those problems as well.
Ashkahn: Uh-huh, yeah.
Graham: And you can picture like a 90-year-old who’s able to get around and who we have no trouble putting in a float tank.
Ashkahn: Right. So, yeah. I guess you can’t really just set an age limit like that, can you?
Graham: And then, at least in Float On, we really don’t have one. We more have like, I guess, a mobility limit or something like that.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Like we make sure if you have mobility questions, we make sure to clarify that we cannot help you get in and out of the float tank, like our staff’s not trained to do that. We can’t take on the liability of something like that, especially if it’s for someone who has trouble physically getting in and out of a float tank.
Graham: Until I saw this question, I guess I’d never really thought about our upper age limit on floating, but I guess we tackle it more on the like condition side, or actually addressing those worries that we have rather than actually putting any kind of age limit on there.
Ashkahn: Right. And again, it doesn’t come up super often. We’re not getting like a bunch of people coming in, lining up and like demanding to float, we’re like, “You’re too old. You can’t float.”
Graham: Yep. I should say, I just took a look at our stats on our ages of floaters that we’ve received over the years and our oldest floaters, self-reported on the books, are 117 years old, so … And they’re doing just fine.
Ashkahn: Yeah. Okay, all right. Well, that makes sense, so alright, I guess if they can do it anyone can do it, huh?
Graham: And next below that’s 103, so yeah. That’s doing good.
Ashkahn: That would have been impressive if it had not been for the 117-year-old.
Graham: Two of them.
Ashkahn: Two? There’s two people who are 117?
Graham: Two 117-year-olds, yeah.
Ashkahn: A husband and wife that came in?
Graham: Just because they’re married doesn’t mean they’re the same age.
Ashkahn: All right, two twins who both lived that long?
Graham: Just because someone’s twins doesn’t … Okay, so we addressed the kind of mobility side of things. I guess we don’t really address the incontinence side.
Ashkahn: I mean, in my experience, if this comes up they ask about it from their perspective. Like if someone’s coming in who may have some concerns, they’ll ask on the phone when they’re making their appointment or stuff like that. That’s almost always been the case for me, so I’ll just include it in my list. I’m like, “Hey, well, you have to get in and out of the float tanks. They can be slippery, it can be kind of difficult, so you’ve got to make sure you’re physically fit enough to do that. And you’re in there for a long period of time. You can’t have any sort of incontinence issues or stuff like that.”
And have I even heard of someone before being like, “Oh, okay. Well, nevermind. I probably shouldn’t do it then,” and kind of realizing their own limits. It’s, I guess, a little bit of a delicate situation, but I feel like just often they ask when they’re booking appointments, and you just kind of be honest and list the things that make it difficult.
Graham: Yeah, for sure. And then, I guess the mental side as well is who’s kind of on there, which I guess, once again, it’s like if people are able to go out and interact with the normal world in a way that’s not difficult for them or the people around them, that’s fine. If someone has a caregiver, we usually request that a caregiver actually come in. We’ve had people with even like not extreme autism but definitely far enough along the spectrum that they’re not interacting with the outside world on their own every day and stuff like that, and that’s gone fine, we just actually have the caregiver stay in the room in that case.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: And that actually ends up being the solution for mobility too, is we request that if they do have mobility issues and still want to use the tanks, we have an ADA room and we just require them to bring in someone who can help them in and out of the tank or be that person.
Ashkahn: Yeah.
Graham: So there you have it. No actual age limit, more like controls to make sure that the stuff that might go wrong doesn’t become a problem.
Ashkahn: Yep. Okay? Cool. Well, if you guys have any further questions for us, you can hop over to floattanksolutions.com/podcast, put them in there and we will take a look at them, and if we deem them worthy they will be answered.
Recent Podcast Episodes
Long Term Construction for Float Centers – DSP 260
Ashkahn is still gone, getting ready for the Float Conference. The festivities kick up this week, and he’s busy working diligently to make all our dreams a reality.
In the meantime, Jake and Graham tackle the notion of ongoing maintenance and the ever evolving nature of a float center. Jake sets the record straight on the concept of having a “finished” float center, as new problems always arise. It’s not all bad news, though, as these changes allow for new opportunities for your centers.
Best Insulation for Soundproofing – DSP 259
This is another fantastic episode that challenges the question on its face.
Graham and Jake (still no Ashkahn, unfortunately, but he is in the intro) talk about soundproofing basics and what type of insulation is a good idea for your float rooms. As it turns out, insulation isn’t doing much of the heavy lifting though, so soundproofing probably isn’t the highest priority when selecting insulation.
How to Make an ADA Float Room – DSP 258
Graham and Jake are in the studio again while Ashkahn plots his marvelous float industry event.
This time the guys are talking about how to make a float room ADA compliant. Lots of it is going to vary from state to state (and sometimes even city to city) but there are some useful tips and tricks for making sure you hit all the right marks for compliance when planning your build out.
Jake and Graham share construction ideas, ways to think about ADA requirements, and some fun stories about Float On’s own adventures in making their building accessible.
Best Quietrock for Float Rooms – DSP 257
While Ashkahn is off doing whatever it is Ashkahn does when not on the podcast, Graham sits down with Jake Marty the Float On construction guy (and co-owner of Float On), to talk about Quietrock.
Now before you rush to the Resources section to see which ones are best, this episode lays out the reason to use Quietrock, when (and how) to compromise for more affordable options, and where you may not want to use this when planning your build out.
Marketing to Older Demographics – DSP 256
Some communities have a much higher retiree population than others. It can be difficult to reach customers who don’t utilize social media as much, so how do you get their attention?
Derek and Graham strategize on how to market to the retiree community for float centers. This episode is filled with bingo jokes, rambling examples, and solid advice for reaching out to any demographic that may not spend a lot of time on social media.
Latest Blog Posts
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #20
We now follow the trail of our ancestors, Meriwether Lewis & William Clark, whose expedition started in St. Louis and would, eventually, lead them to Oregon – just like us.
Except, unlike them, we didn’t actually start in St. Louis, don’t have a tour guide from the Lemhi Shoshone tribe, and aren’t carrying flintlocks (except for Graham).
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #19
Chicago is home to one of the oldest float centers still in operation – SpaceTime Float Tanks.
We had the misfortune of timing our visit as they were moving to a larger location, the only time in 34 years that they have ever been closed. It is with great regret that we were unable to see their historic float center in operation.
They were trailblazers even before there were trails to blaze – so many float centers in the entire Midwest trace their roots back to a single float at SpaceTime.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #18
We made it back to America, everybody. It was a harrowing experience being in an uncivilized country where they think gravy and cheese curds on french fries is a meal but, thankfully, we’ve crossed the border back to a country where we know that chili and shredded cheese on french fries is a meal. Civilization.
Quite honestly, we might be in love with Canada. We’re definitely making another trip up there. For now, it’s about to MPH not KPH.
The Float Tour Blog – Issue #17
We hosted our second Float Tour Workshop here in Toronto and stayed in town a bit longer than we normally do, allowing us to get acquainted with the city. The sprawling metropolis is an amalgamation of old world pioneering days and modern multiculturalism. It was founded in 1787, and some of the currently standing buildings pre-date even that. Ancient architecture stands next to contemporary monoliths, weaving a tapestry of antiquity and avant-garde in this fair city.
