Person floating weightlessly in dark liquid, cocooned in transparent film.

Unlocking Relief: Can 'Dry Immersion' Ease Parkinson's Motor Symptoms?

Nico Varela in Health & Wellness December 2025 • 5 min read.

"A novel approach explores how simulating weightlessness could offer a promising path to alleviate rigidity and tremor for those living with Parkinson's."

Parkinson's disease (PD) presents a significant challenge, characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms that impact patients' safety, well-being, and overall quality of life. The condition, marked by rigidity, tremor, and akinesia, often necessitates increased healthcare, creating an economic strain on individuals, families, and healthcare systems.

While treatments like dopamine replacement therapy, deep brain stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation exist, patients still face progressive disability. Varied physical interventions, including resistance training, virtual reality, and even dancing, have shown some positive effects, but a rehabilitation technique with a clearer link to the underlying mechanisms of Parkinson's is needed.

Now, researchers are exploring an innovative approach: 'dry immersion' (DI), a technique that simulates the effects of microgravity on the body. This method, commonly used as an analog for spaceflight, involves immersing a subject in water while wrapped in a waterproof film, mimicking the reduced sensory stimulation experienced in space. The study investigates whether this unique environment can alleviate rigidity and tremor in Parkinson's patients.

Dry Immersion: A New Hope for Motor Symptom Relief?

Person floating weightlessly in dark liquid, cocooned in transparent film.

Dry immersion is recognized as a reliable space flight analog. At DI, a subject is immersed in water being wrapped in a waterproof film to imitate microgravity (μG). Microgravity is known to decrease muscle tone due to deprivation of the sensory stimuli that activate the reflexes that keep up the muscle tone. In contrary, parkinsonian patients are characterized by elevated muscle tone, or rigidity, along with rest tremor and akinesia.

Researchers hypothesized that DI could diminish the elevated muscle tone and tremor in Parkinson's patients. To test this, they conducted a study involving fourteen patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and five patients with vascular parkinsonism (VP). The participants underwent a single 45-minute DI session, and their muscle function was assessed using surface electromyogram (sEMG) measurements before and after the immersion.

sEMG recordings were taken bilaterally from the biceps brachii muscle.
Recordings were repeated under various loading conditions: arms hanging freely, and with 0, 1, and 2 kg loads on each hand while the elbows were flexed at 90 degrees.
sEMG parameters, including amplitude, median frequency, mutual information decay time, sample entropy, correlation dimension, recurrence rate, and determinism, were analyzed.

The results indicated that DI had a noticeable impact on several sEMG parameters. Specifically, amplitude, time of decay of mutual information, recurrence rate, and determinism tended to decrease, while median frequency and sample entropy of sEMG tended to increase after the DI. The most statistically significant change was for the determinism of sEMG from the left biceps with 1 kg loading, which decreased for 84% of the patients.

The Future of Parkinson's Therapy: A Dive into Dry Immersion?

This study offers a promising glimpse into the potential of dry immersion as a therapeutic intervention for Parkinson's disease. The findings suggest that DI can promptly relieve motor symptoms, particularly rigidity and perhaps tremor, by modulating muscle activity.

While the mechanisms behind these improvements require further investigation, the study highlights the potential of DI to influence muscle tone and motor unit synchronization, offering a unique approach to managing Parkinson's symptoms.

Given these encouraging results, dry immersion holds strong potential as a valuable rehabilitation method for Parkinson's patients. Further research is needed to explore long-term effects, optimize DI protocols, and understand the specific neural mechanisms involved. This could pave the way for new strategies to improve the lives of those living with Parkinson's.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.3389/fnins.2018.00667, Alternate LINK

Title: Parameters Of Surface Electromyogram Suggest That Dry Immersion Relieves Motor Symptoms In Patients With Parkinsonism

Subject: General Neuroscience

Journal: Frontiers in Neuroscience

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Authors: German G. Miroshnichenko, Alexander Yu Meigal, Irina V. Saenko, Liudmila I. Gerasimova-Meigal, Liudmila A. Chernikova, Natalia S. Subbotina, Saara M. Rissanen, Pasi A. Karjalainen

Published: 2018-09-26

Everything You Need To Know

What exactly is Dry Immersion, and how does it work?

Dry Immersion (DI) is a technique where a person is immersed in water while wrapped in a waterproof film. This simulates the effects of microgravity on the body. In the context of Parkinson's disease, DI is being investigated as a potential method to alleviate motor symptoms such as rigidity and tremor, which are key characteristics of the disease. It is considered a spaceflight analog, meant to mimic the reduced sensory stimulation experienced in space, which could potentially impact muscle tone and reduce the severity of Parkinson's symptoms.

Why is Dry Immersion considered important for those with Parkinson's?

The significance of Dry Immersion (DI) lies in its potential to offer a new approach to managing Parkinson's disease symptoms. Existing treatments, such as dopamine replacement therapy and deep brain stimulation, often have limitations. DI provides a unique way to interact with the underlying mechanisms of the disease by reducing muscle tone and potentially decreasing tremor. The method addresses the elevated muscle tone, or rigidity, which is a key motor symptom of Parkinson's. By modulating muscle activity through DI, there's a chance of immediate relief for those experiencing motor symptoms, indicating a shift in rehabilitation strategies.

What are the potential implications of using Dry Immersion as a treatment?

The implications of using Dry Immersion (DI) for Parkinson's disease are promising. The study's results suggest that DI can promptly relieve motor symptoms. Several sEMG parameters were noticeably impacted. For instance, amplitude, time of decay of mutual information, recurrence rate, and determinism tended to decrease, while median frequency and sample entropy of sEMG tended to increase. The most statistically significant change was for the determinism of sEMG from the left biceps with 1 kg loading, which decreased for 84% of the patients. This could lead to improved quality of life, reduced reliance on medications, and potentially new rehabilitation strategies centered around simulated microgravity.

How was the Dry Immersion study conducted, and what tests were done?

The researchers studied the effects of Dry Immersion (DI) on fourteen Parkinson's disease (PD) patients and five patients with vascular parkinsonism (VP). Participants underwent a single 45-minute DI session. Muscle function was assessed using surface electromyogram (sEMG) measurements before and after immersion. sEMG recordings were taken bilaterally from the biceps brachii muscle under various loading conditions. They analyzed parameters, including amplitude, median frequency, mutual information decay time, sample entropy, correlation dimension, recurrence rate, and determinism to assess the impact of DI on muscle activity and motor symptoms. These tests allowed them to assess the effects of DI on muscle function, providing evidence for its potential therapeutic benefits.

What are the main challenges that people with Parkinson's face, and how does Dry Immersion address them?

Parkinson's disease is characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms, including rigidity, tremor, and akinesia. These symptoms have a significant impact on patients' lives, affecting their safety, well-being, and quality of life. The economic strain on individuals, families, and healthcare systems is also increased because of the condition's progressive nature, which often necessitates increased healthcare. Current treatments such as dopamine replacement therapy, deep brain stimulation, and transcranial magnetic stimulation, do not fully address these progressive disabilities, which underscores the need for novel methods such as Dry Immersion to potentially alleviate these symptoms.