Aquatic Therapy, Water Therapy or Hydrotherapy

Introduced to Britain by bathhouse-loving Romans, hydrotherapy is now recognized for its potential to promote well-being, reduce anxiety and alleviate chronic pain - and you don't even have to be able to swim to reap the rewards

What is it?
It's believed that the thermal properties of water assist healing. The body's reaction to hot and cold water causes the nerves at the surface of the skin to carry impulses deep into the body. This reaction is thought to lessen pain sensitivity, stimulate the immune system, aid lymphatic drainage and increase blood circulation. So, whether you're taking a long, languorous bath, standing under an icy-cold shower, or spending two hours in a saline flotation tank, you are in effect harnessing the healing power of water.

Aquatic Therapy Benefits

Aquatic therapy is an excellent therapeutic low impact activity for individuals of all abilities. Aquatic therapy activities can be done in either indoor or outdoor pool facilities and consist of cardiovascular endurance and conditioning exercises. These include walking, jogging, jumping, swimming, kicking, and other continuous rhythmic activities that elevate metabolism and improve cardiovascular function.

Benefits of Aquatic Therapy

• Improves muscle tone and strength.
• Improves endurance.
• Increases cardiovascular function.
• Improves self esteem.
• Reduction in gravitational force provides therapeutic benefits.
• Provides psychological benefits.
• Overall improvement in quality of life.
• Increased circulation, endurance, flexibility, range of motion, balance, and coordination.

Buoyancy
Acts as support for the spine or extremity that may be weakened due to disease, injury, surgery, or immobilization.
Makes it possible for people to achieve a position of comfort for exercise not possible on land.
Flotation devices and "noodles" help individuals with disabilities maintain buoyancy.


Benefits of Shallow Water Walking

• Increased metabolism and strength.
• Reduction of muscles that have atrophied due to injury, illness, or general use.
• Improved balance and coordination.
• Recreation and socialization.
• Water walking requires no swimming ability, which makes it possible for non-swimmers to participate.

Benefits of Deep Water Running

• Reduction in force to joints makes this activity mostly pain free.
• Mainly used for back rehabilitation programs to develop muscular and cardiovascular endurance.

Benefits of Hydrostatic Pressure

• Helps reduce blood pressure in those with hypertension while exercising in the water due to the effects of hydrostatic pressure.
• Edema of lower extremities is relieved during physical activity in water.

Aquatic therapy also has been shown to reduce levels of spasticity among individuals undergoing rehabilitation.

Fibromyalgia - Exercise in warm water is good start, study says

by medical journalist Evra Taylor Levy and emergency physician Eddy

In the world of medicine, many diseases and conditions are clear-cut and relatively easy to diagnose and treat. Unfortunately, fibromyalgia isn't one of these, but the ambiguity of the symptoms doesn't diminish the very real pain its sufferers experience. This week's HealthWatch takes a closer look at this debilitating illness and some recent research that suggests relief might be found at the pool.

What is fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is an increasingly common chronic condition that has stricken roughly 3% of world population. It afflicts women at least four times more often than men and often occurs after the age of 50, sometimes worsening with age.
It affects the muscles and tendons and ligaments, which connect muscles to bones. Its main symptoms are fatigue, muscle spasms, weakness, stiffness, and pain in the joints and muscles in areas of the body known as trigger points or tender points. Some of these are located in the neck, shoulder, back and thighs and can be extremely sensitive to even light touch. Rheumatologists, who are the doctors specialized in the care of this condition, make the diagnosis in part by probing these points: a painful reaction is often a sign of fibromyalgia.
There isn't one definitive cause of fibromyalgia, but physical trauma, like a car accident, can trigger it.

Aquatic Therapy or Pool Therapy

Aquatic therapy or pool therapy consists of an exercise program that is performed in the water. It is a beneficial form of therapy that is useful for a variety of medical conditions. Aquatic therapy uses the physical properties of water to assist in patient healing and exercise performance.

One benefit of aquatic therapy is the buoyancy provided by the water. While submerged in water, buoyancy assists in supporting the weight of the patient. This decreases the amount of weight bearing which reduces the force of stress placed on the joints. This aspect of aquatic therapy is especially useful for patients with arthritis, healing fractured bones, or who are overweight. By decreasing the amount of joint stress it is easier and less painful to perform exercises.

The viscosity of water provides an excellent source of resistance that can be easily incorporated into an aquatic therapy exercise program.

This resistance allows for muscle strengthening without the need of weights. Using resistance coupled with the water’s buoyancy allows a person to strengthen muscle groups with decreased joint stress that can not be experienced on land.

Aquatic therapy also utilizes hydrostatic pressure to decrease swelling and improve joint position awareness. The hydrostatic pressure produces forces perpendicular to the body’s surface. This pressure provides joint positional awareness to the patient. As a result, patient proprioception is improved. This is important for patients who have experienced joint sprains, as when ligaments are torn, our proprioception becomes decreased. The hydrostatic pressure also assists in decreasing joint and soft tissue swelling that results after injury or with arthritic disorders.

Lastly, the warmth of the water experience during aquatic therapy assists in relaxing muscles and vasodilates vessels, increasing blood flow to injured areas. Patients with muscle spasms, back pain, and fibromyalgia find this aspect of aquatic therapy especially therapeutic.

It is important to know however, that aquatic therapy is not for everyone. People with cardiac disease should not participate in aquatic therapy. Those who have fevers, infections, or bowel/bladder incontinence are also not candidates for aquatic therapy. Always discuss this with your physician before beginning an aquatic therapy program.