What is Aquatic Therapy?

Aquatic therapy, also known as hydrotherapy, involves performing exercises and activities in water under the guidance of a trained therapist. This form of therapy is beneficial for rehabilitation, improving flexibility, strength, and overall fitness, all while minimizing stress on the joints.

Aquatic therapy offers an alternative form of rehabilitation and can be used alongside traditional outpatient therapies. Our indoor heated pool provides an excellent environment for rehabilitating patients with neurological and musculoskeletal injuries. This setting allows individuals to reinitiate limb and body movement in a supportive, comfortable, and relaxing environment.

Water is the ideal environment for patients who may not be quite ready for land-based exercise programs, as it supports, controls, and relaxes the body. It is used for recovery, prevention, and overall wellness across a wide patient population. Coordination and aerobic actives can also be performed in the pool.

What are the Benefits of Aquatic Therapy?

Aquatic therapy offers numerous benefits by significantly reducing stress throughout the body and facilitating healing. This is due to the unique properties of water, such as buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, viscosity and fluid dynamics.

• Buoyancy: The buoyancy of the water facilitates mobility and assists with exercise by decreasing impact while promoting movement, thus reducing pain.
• Hydrostatic Pressure: Hydrostatic pressure exerts more compression on the extremities, facilitating fluid movement towards the center of the body, improving conditions like swelling and peripheral vascular disease. This increased pressure can also help improve lung function in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
• Deep-Water Area: Deep-water area assists with resistance exercises for strengthening and reduces the impact of gravity, which benefits individuals with more severe weight-bearing injuries like herniated discs and severe arthritis.

Injuries and Conditions Treated by Aquatic Therapy

Patients with various orthopedic and neurological injuries and conditions can benefit from aquatic therapy, including:

• Orthopedic: Osteoarthritis, hip replacements, joint reconstruction, shoulder surgeries, ankle surgeries, spinal surgeries (fusions, laminectomies, discectomies), herniated discs, spinal stenosis, sprains and strains, lower back pain.

• Neurological: Peripheral neuropathies, reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), nerve root injuries, balance and equilibrium deficits, Parkinson’s, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

• Additional conditions: Rheumatoid Arthritis and peripheral vascular diseases.