Orthopaedic conditions, medical conditions, and neurological disorders may reduce your ability to bear weight on your legs, or tolerate the impact of exercise on land. Aquatic therapy is a rehabilitation option that allows people to exercise in the pool. The water in the pool provides support, buoyancy, and gentle resistance during exercise. Aquatic therapy is helpful for people with many types of orthopaedic conditions; neurological disorders that affect movement such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury; or medical conditions that affect joint or muscle integrity, such as arthritis, amputation, muscle spasms, and chronic pain.
Our pool therapy reduces pressure on joints to provide greater mobility and decrease pain, which increases flexibility for a faster recovery. Because the water provides support for weight-bearing joints, treatment can begin sooner. The controlled heat setting of a therapy pool can be helpful for easing pain, increasing circulation, relaxing tense muscles, and decreasing stress.
You will learn specific exercises to target your affected areas. You may gain strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and range of motion. With the reduction of gravity in the pool, you may find that you can perform movements that you cannot do on land. Your aquatic therapy program will be upgraded as you progress in treatment. The full range of benefits associated with aquatic therapy includes:
- Alleviates pressure on joints and spine
- Reduces pain and inflammation
- Increases range of motion
- Promotes improved muscle strength and endurance
- Decreases muscle spasms and spasticity
- Promotes cardiovascular fitness
- Improves circulation in the veins and in turn benefits the heart and lungs
- Enables relaxed patient participation
You do not need to know how to swim to participate in aquatic therapy and for your safety and comfort you may sometimes use flotation devices. Direct assistance from a qualified therapist during your treatments will help to maximize the time you are in the pool to achieve the greatest benefit. Aquatic therapists are physical therapists or occupational therapists that have received additional training in aquatic therapy principles.
Your aquatic therapist will evaluate your baseline strength, limitations, and functional skill level and also assess your muscle movements, coordination, balance, and endurance. You should tell your aquatic therapist about any concerns or difficulties that you have. The evaluation and your input are used to formulate a customized treatment plan that includes specific short term and long term goals. At Bolduc Physical/ Aquatic Therapy and Sports Medicine, aquatic therapy is always provided in one-on-one sessions.
Prior to participating in aquatic therapy, you will need a prescription and medical release to do so from your physician. Some people may not be candidates for aquatic therapy because of specific contradictions, such as open wounds. Most people find aquatic therapy to be beneficial and enjoyable. However, aquatic therapy rehabilitation is not considered a treatment for weight reduction because it is not an excellent source of aerobic exercise
- Large therapy pool is 12 feet x 18 feet
- Depths vary from 3 1/2 feet to 6 feet, allowing for a variety of exercises as well as deep water exercises
- Water temperature is maintained between 95-97 degrees, which allows for muscle relaxation and improved elongation of muscle fibers during treatment session
- Various pieces of water-specific exercise equipment to treat all conditions
- Entry into the pool by stairs or chair lift (up to 450 lbs)
- Locker room available with private changing rooms, lockers, and showers
