Have you ever considered incorporating aquatic therapy into your physical therapy sessions? Aquatic therapy is an increasingly popular form of physical rehabilitation and fitness that takes place in a pool. It can be incredibly beneficial to patients suffering from chronic pain, injury, or disability as it helps to reduce stress on joints while strengthening muscles and improving flexibility. Whether you are currently seeking treatment or doing research, let’s dive right in and learn about the benefits of aquatic therapy.
Aquatic therapy helps patients improve common conditions such as lower back pain, chronic pain, arthritis, and even post-surgery swelling. This is because of the support of buoyancy allowing for easier movement and greater range of motion. The water slows down movement, giving patients time to regain their posture if they get off balance. Simply put, aquatic therapy is a hands-on type of therapy that utilizes the physical properties of the water to work on specific body movements. This is typically taught and supervised by a physical therapist who specializes in the field of aquatic therapy, so you are not doing this alone. Which can be especially helpful to patients with arthritis, are overweight, or are healing from fractured bones.
Aquatic therapy has been known to provide fast relief with fewer setbacks compared to traditional land-based treatments. The water’s viscosity provides some resistance which can be easily incorporated into a lot of aquatic therapy exercises. It also allows you to use certain buoyant equipment that gives more resistance when put into the water. Items such as aquatic hand bars, tough light in weight out of the water, act as if they were regular dumbbells. And aquatic ankle cuffs, which are also light weight on land, act as low-impact exercisers for your legs. Both are made of buoyant and durable soft and non-abrasive closed-cell foam, adding resistance to your movements. Giving you more of a challenge in your aquatic exercise routines and rehabilitation.
Overall, aquatic therapy is a unique and incredibly beneficial form of physical therapy and fitness. It has the power to improve chronic pain, arthritis, lower back pain, and post-surgery swelling. This is due to buoyancy providing support for more mobility as well as the water’s viscosity creating resistance for strength building. If you are wondering where to start with aquatic therapy, consider the equipment involved — such as aquatic hand bars and ankle cuffs — to help low-impact exercisers in the water.
To check out our selection of aquatic hand bars, click here.
To check out our selection of aquatic ankle cuffs, click here.
Article written by William Graves.