Disease Prevention & Wellness Center
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Disease Prevention & Wellness Center |
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Aquatic Therapy |
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What are the benefits of Aquatic Therapy? Four components of Aquatic Therapy |
| What is Aquatic
Therapy? Therapists use the water and specifically designed activities to enhance, restore, and maintain a person's functional abilities. Conditions can be acute, transient, or chronic. What are the benefits of Aquatic Therapy? After an illness, injury, or surgery, a patient's sensitivity to pain may be increased or the ability to bear weight on the injured area limited. In water, the pull of gravity on the body is not as strong as on land, therefore motion and functional activity are more comfortable. Water supports the body, reduces joint stress, and provides resistance and assistance to movement. Patients can improve mobility, strength, and function rapidly during the healing process. Other benefits include:
Four components of aquatic therapy that 'land based' therapies may not offer: Buoyancy - Provides assistance and support. It is used to decrease gravitational forces placed on weak limbs that are less able to bear weight. Buoyancy allows a person to move more easily with decreased stress on muscles, joints, and bones. Heat - Aquatic therapy is provided in a heated pool, temperatures ranging from 94-96 degrees. The warm water relaxes muscles and allows for improved joint range of motion. Hydrostatic Pressure - The water surrounding the body helps circulate blood from the legs to the heart, often reducing any swelling in the ankles and feet. Once swelling is reduced, joint tenderness may decrease and range of motion can increase. Resistance - Allows for improvement in balance and strength in all muscle directions. On land, resistance is felt in only one direction, which leads to an over development of some muscles and under utilization of others. Resistance also increases sensory awareness.
Who can benefit from aquatic therapy? Though aquatic therapy is not recommended for certain medical conditions, the vast majority of people can participate. Individuals with a variety of disabilities and orthopedic conditions can participate in aquatic therapy. Those with back problems, knee injuries, ankle injuries, strokes, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, and those who have orthopedic surgeries are just a few of the individuals who may benefit from aquatic therapy. Other conditions treated with aquatic therapy. Other conditions treated with aquatic therapy include:
The Disease Prevention and Wellness Center at the Shenandoah Medical Center houses a HydroWorx 1000 rehabilitation pool. It offers a multi-depth floor, variable speed treadmill with hand rails, and resistance jets with massage hoses. Services of the aquatic environment include water therapy and an aquatic wellness class. |
