+ Aquatic Therapy
+ What is Aquatic Therapy?
Aquatic Therapy, also known as pool, aqua or water therapy, is physical therapy that takes place in a pool or other aquatic environment under the supervision of a trained healthcare professional. Aquatic Therapy can be a great alternative to traditional, land-based therapy and may be beneficial for any patient who needs to reduce the amount of weight placed throughout the body, such as patients recovering from knee or hip surgery, patients with low-back pain or arthritis, athletes recovering from a stress fracture, or any individual who has not had success with traditional PT. During an aquatic therapy session, a therapist is with the patient, assisting with the rehabilitation program.
In recent years we have learned that aqua therapy has many incredible benefits that traditional land based physical therapy does not. Whether you are an athlete living with chronic pain and soreness or an elderly individual suffering from arthritis or fibromyalgia, aqua therapy may be the answer for you. While Physical Therapy and land-based exercises help many individuals, there are some circumstances where this simply isn’t an option.
One of the top benefits of Aquatic Therapy is that it is much easier on the muscles and joints than land-based exercises. Aqua therapy causes little to no impact allowing your joints and muscles to recover faster. Another bonus of aquatics therapy is that almost all of the exercises that can be performed on land can be done in the water, meaning you are receiving the same benefits that you would through a land-based physical therapy program, with reduced complaints of aches and discomfort.
We believe in providing each and every one of our clients with the tools they need to achieve optimal health and wellness. Whether you have been injured in a sporting accident, are recovering from surgery, or have been living with chronic pain for years, Aqua Therapy could be just what you need. There are many components to aqua therapy and a wide range of conditions that can be treated via this form of exercise. Keep in mind that, once again, there are many instances in which land-based physical therapy is the right choice, but for some, Aquatic Therapy may be the better option.
+ What is Aquatic PT Benefits
An important advantage of Aqua Therapy is that it can often begin before land based therapy. For busy professionals who want to recover from surgery as quickly as possible, athletes looking to get back into competition or individuals who want to improve their quality of life, the benefits of aqua therapy makes a water-based program the natural choice.
Patients participating in Aquatic Therapy can expect the following benefits:
Increase in joint flexibility. Your affected body part will float, making it easier and less painful to move
Increase in muscle strength. Water is 600-700 times more resistive that air which allows for strengthening of your weak muscles.
Decrease in pain. Immersion in warm water increases your comfort and stress relief to the body creates additional comfort.
Improved balance. The uniform pressure of the water provides support to your body which allows you increased time to react without the fear of falling or getting hurt.
Common benefits of Aquatic Therapy include improved function, flexibility, enhancing aerobic capacity, improved endurance, improved balance, improved posture, and improved gait. Physical therapy is not just about the body healing physically, but it is also about your mental and emotional well-being. Aquatic therapy has been shown to reduce stress and promote relaxation. At Dedham Health Physical Therapy, we have the resources to treat you after an illness, injury or surgery with Aquatic Therapy. One of the biggest benefits of aquatic therapy is you will be able to move and exercise easier in the water and this benefit will impact your overall function, making everyday activity easier also.
+ How Water Therapy Helps Injury
Physical rehabilitation is used to help people recover from serious injuries. It can take months or even years to build muscle tissue strength and range of motion, but there is a way to increase training efficiency that is helpful to people of all ages. Performing physical rehabilitation and exercise in water utilizes several principles and has a number of benefits that will speed recovery, boost your muscle performance, and help to reduce acute and chronic pain. Some of the benefits of aquatic therapy might surprise you.
Hydrostatic Pressure affects the Cardiovascular, Respiratory, and Musculoskeletal System in many positive ways. With respect to the cardiovascular system, the pressure exerted on the body by immersion effects components such as improving circulation by moving fluid centrally, improving heart muscle efficiency, and can even assist in lowering blood pressure for persons who have hypertension (high blood pressure). The impact on the Respiratory System allows for training of muscles responsible for breathing. While immersed the muscles used to inhale are resisted by the water while the muscles used to exhale are assisted. This can assist patients with compromised respiratory systems as well as highly trained athletes. Hydrostatic pressure lastly effects the Musculoskeletal system by, proving gentle compression to joints, relaxation of muscles, decreased swelling in limbs, decreased pain, and the ability for muscles to work at a maximal level in a buoyancy assisted and or a buoyancy resisted environment. Exercising while immersed is isokinetic, meaning that any exercises you do offer the same resistance throughout the entirety of your motion. This allows your muscles to work at their maximum efficiency, however you are anywhere between 30-90% unweighted allowing you to not feel an increased effort while making max strength gains.
Pain can limit numerous components of our daily lives. No matter the cause when a part of us is in pain we cannot do the things we would like to or must do. Aqua PT can help with that and more. Our heated, salt water indoor pools provide relaxation and comfort to muscles and joints that may be tight and or painful. The waters natural pressure provides joint compression and can assist in swelling management to decrease limb swelling which will improve motion and decrease overall pain. When immersed to chest level roughly 70% of your body weight is supported. This allows for a feeling of lightness and the ability to use buoyancy assisted and resisted exercises in a pain decreased setting. When the force of gravity and land-based PT is too much Aqua PT can be a great first step in reducing pain and still allowing you to work at a maximal level to achieve your goals. We hand select each program to your specific needs and move at your pace. We have a goal to help you return to land based physical therapy no matter your injury or diagnoses. Our Aquatic Therapist has worked with numerous conditions including but not limited to, surgical procedures, sports injuries, work injuries, concussions, connective tissue disorders, fibromyalgia, and more.
While the pool is traditionally used for patients early in their physical therapy protocol and who cannot initially tolerate land based physical therapy do not think you are not working. Using a multitude of different upper body and lower body exercises that incorporate, weights, resistance bands, kickboards, shallow/deep water, and more in various positions of standing and floating will have you working at your peak level. Whether you are working with or against the waters natural buoyancy your muscles will be working just as hard as they would be on land. With the unweighted environment that the water provides it will be a less painful and more soothing experience. There are multiple exercises specific to the pool while also mimicking exercises you would see in land-based PT or as activities you perform day to day. Our physical therapy departments are all interconnected and when you are a patient in our Aquatic PT program our goal is to progress your strength, flexibility, range of motion, and muscle endurance to transition back to our Orthopedic Land Based PT gym or to the Spine Center PT program to achieve all your therapy goals. Aqua PT is the first important step in that journey and our Aqua therapist will formulate a plan that best suits your individual needs and current level.
While immersed the natural properties of water will allow you to feel the way your body moves so much more than on land. This is extremely helpful from the standpoint of improving and understanding these motions known as your proprioceptive system. The term “muscle memory” comes into play here as your brain can better understand how to move for specific exercises no matter if the goal is strength, flexibility or range of motion. The water will allow you to feel if an area of the body is out of place or is performed with improper form. This added benefit allows you to correct issues with form and or muscles imbalances which will lead to improved function in your daily activities and less chance of re-injury. Aqua PT can help you can improve your ambulation quality, posture, and activity form leading to less aches and pains and decreasing you chance for injuries. Your therapist is trained in understanding where your muscle imbalances may be and assessing current form of exercise and daily activities. Exercise prescriptions throughout the sessions will be given to improve your body’s sense of where limbs are in space and the proper way to move. This leads to more ease of motion in your everyday life as well as a decreased pain level for overall improvement.
No matter the cause of your injury muscle tightness can present issues. Your body will naturally “guard” with muscle tightness to protect you from the trauma of surgery, injury etc. And while this can be helpful sometimes muscle tightness and pain add to your inability to do the things you love and make everyday tasks more difficult. The warm water of our pools present instant muscle relaxation as the water dilates blood vessels and allows improvement of circulation to muscles decreasing tightness. This allows you to move more freely through the water, move with a decrease in soreness and pain, and allow you to build strength, range, flexibility, and muscle endurance to assist you when you exit the pool and come back on land. This change is not immediate but when land exercises can be too much and just cause increased muscle soreness and pain the pool can be an amazing medium. Just as exercises can feel easier while immersed so are stretches, this allows the muscle to stretch while in a relaxed state. Your aquatic therapist is well versed in how aggressive to push stretches and strengthening exercises to best suit you and make progress towards your goals. Utilizing the effects of shallow and deep-water Aqua PT can help muscle soreness anywhere in the body.
While all the components on this page are important this may be the most significant. When it comes right down to it people want to have fun. Aqua PT is a fun setting and environment. Nobody wants to be in pain and unable to do the things that they love. But even worse is feeling like the treatment for said injury is just as bad as the injury. That will not be the case as Aqua PT is a warm, inviting, and accepting atmosphere for all. No matter if it is summer time and you can walk right in to the pool feeling good from the sunshine or you now have a warm place to go when the polar vortex strikes in the winter Aqua PT always puts fun at the top of the list. Our Aquatic therapist and entire PT team genuinely want you to enjoy your time with us and assist you in reaching all your goals. Work must be done to get better and that falls on each individual person to understand and put that work in. However, that work can be done in a fun and light environment, and that place is Dedham Health PT!
+ Why Choose Dedham Health PT?
Trained Therapist:
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All of our Aquatic Therapist have undergone extensive training in Aquatic Therapy and can safely prescribe an individualized plan of care.
Saltwater Pool:
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Our saltwater pool is gentle on your hair, skin and clothing. In addition, saltwater pools won’t leave your eyes red and your lungs irritated because there is less chlorine.
Locker Rooms with Pool Access:
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Every pool has full facility access adjacent to the pool which includes bathrooms, changing rooms and showers.
Individualized Therapy Plan:
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Your Aquatic Therapist will tailor the session to your specific needs and goals.
