Aquatic therapy refers to treatments and exercises performed in water for relaxation, fitness, physical rehabilitation, and other therapeutic benefit.
Typically a qualified aquatic therapist gives constant attendance to a person receiving treatment in a heated therapy pool.
Aquatic physical therapy is also beneficial for older adults for fall prevention, increasing balance, and gait training.
Many aquatic therapy procedures require constant attendance by a trained therapist, and are performed in a specialized temperature-controlled pool.
Aquatic therapy can support restoration of function for many areas of orthopedics, including sports medicine, work conditioning, joint arthroplasty, and back rehabilitation programs.
[4]: 1 Aquatic therapy to be helpful in many different ways, treatment from orthopedic injuries to spinal cord damage, chronic pain, cerebral palsy, and many other conditions.
[5] Various properties of water contribute to therapeutic effects, including the ability to use water for resistance in place of gravity or weights; thermal stability that permits maintenance of near-constant temperature; hydrostatic pressure that supports and stabilizes, and that influences heart and lung function; buoyancy that permits flotation and reduces the effects of gravity; and turbulence and wave propagation that allow gentle manipulation and movement.
in the form of hydrotherapy, with records suggesting that ancient Egyptian, Assyrian, and Mohammedan cultures utilized mineral waters which were thought to have curative properties through the 18th century.
[7] In 1911, Dr. Charles Leroy Lowman began to use therapeutic tubs to treat cerebral palsy and spastic patients in California at Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles.
Lowman was inspired after a visit to Spaulding School for Crippled Children in Chicago, where wooden exercise tanks were used by paralyzed patients.
[8] The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis began utilizing corrective swimming pools and Lowman's techniques for treatment of poliomyelitis in the 1950s.
[22] For musculoskeletal rehabilitation, aquatic therapy is typically used to treat acute injuries as well as subjective pain of chronic conditions, such as arthritis.
These results suggest that aquatic exercise can be extremely helpful for Parkinson's disease patients with specific balance disorders and fear of falling.
There are advantageous outcomes for patients with fibromyalgia resulting from aquatic therapy such as decrease of articulate load regarding an individual's biomechanics.
In a study, underwater treadmill training improved lower extremity strength, balance and gait in people who suffer from partial damage to their spinal cord.
[32] However, the risk of falling along with the intense weight bearing (WB) and dynamic resistance exercises recommended to improve bone mineral density (BMD) typically conflicts with the proclivity of many older and vulnerable individuals.
Due to its safety, Aquatic Therapy is recommended for individuals unable, unmotivated, or scared to perform intense land exercises.
Not only are you able to move more easily in water, but research has proved that aquatic physical therapy promotes confidence, motor dexterity, range of motion, and center of mass displacement.
An aquatic therapy specialization is an add-on certification for healthcare providers, mainly including physical therapists and athletic trainers.