Aquatic Therapy at Mangiarelli Rehabilitation
At Mangiarelli Rehabilitation, aquatic therapy takes place in our warm water therapeutic pool with our aquatic therapy specialist, Sue. Aquatic therapy provides a safe and effective environment to build strength, improve mobility and balance, and enhance function with minimal stress on your joints. Today, our aquatic therapist, Sue, explains what aquatic therapy involves, ways it can benefit you as a patient, and how it can improve your strength and reduce pain.
Benefits of Aquatic Therapy
Aquatic therapy is used to treat both orthopedic and sports-related injuries including arthritis, back pain, balance disorders, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, post-surgery care, spinal disorders, deconditioned patients from Covid or other long-term illnesses, and sports injury rehabilitation such as ACL rehab.
At Mangiarelli Rehabilitation, the physical therapist leads the patient through a routine of structured aquatic therapy exercises that uses the physical properties of the water to help your body heal and regain strength without placing undue stress on your joints in our large warm water therapeutic pool.
Aquatic therapy has numerous benefits for physical therapy patients:
Increased circulation
Improved strength and power
Decreased blood pressure
Increased heart rate and metabolic rate
Relaxation of tense muscles
Reduction of pain and muscle spasms
Increased range of motion and endurance
Gentle cardiovascular training
Enhanced joint mobility and stability
Improved balance and coordination
Increased blood flow to injured areas
Reduced stress placed on specific joints and muscles
Exercising in water produces an increase in cardiac output, in the blood flow to muscles, and in the diffusion of metabolic waste products from muscle to blood, as well as a reduction in the time it takes to transport oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to fatigued muscles. This improves your overall aerobic capacity and fitness.
How The Properties of Water Enhance Recovery
Water has certain properties that enhance the effectiveness of exercise and rehabilitation. Water exerts hydrostatic pressure on the body when submerged in the pool. This pressure produces a gentle compressive force that reduces swelling and joint inflammation. The greater your depth in the water, the greater the pressure exerted and the more support your body receives from the surrounding water. This provides a secure environment to prevent injury from balance issues or too much stress on a joint.
The natural buoyancy of water reduces pressure on joints and diminishes weight-bearing stress. Buoyancy is the ability to float in water, meaning the deeper you go into water the less weight you have to bear. If you are immersed in water up to your neck, you bear 10% of your body weight. If you are immersed up to chest level, you bear 25% of your weight and at hip level, 50% of your weight.
The viscosity of water, or water’s resistance against an object (your body), helps you gently strengthen your muscles without placing undue stress on your joints. Water has a greater resistance than air: it is 12% more resistant than air and it accommodates resistance. The harder you push or pull through the water, the more resistance you experience.
Aquatic therapy provides a unique environment in which to build strength safely and effectively, particularly for patients that are deconditioned, injured, or managing joint conditions like arthritis. Due to the viscosity of water, movement through water provides resistance, helping you to build strength.
You can increase resistance in the water by moving faster: as you increase speed in the water, you increase resistance. By increasing the surface area moving through the water, you can increase resistance by creating a greater drag force through the water e.g. progressing from slicing the water to pushing and pulling the water with your hands to using paddles to push and pull through the water. You can also use buoyant pool equipment such as noodles and water dumbbells to increase buoyancy resistance. By pushing noodles or dumbbells down through the water, you have to exert more force in opposition to the noodle or dumbbell as these items want to remain buoyant at the top of the water.
One study evaluated aquatic therapy three times a week over an 8-week period to assess the effectiveness of aquatic therapy resistance exercises. Total-body resistance exercises were performed using aquatic devices that increased the drag force with a regular, controlled cadence of movement. Over the 8 weeks, the volume and intensity of the program were progressively increased. At the end of the 8 weeks, researchers noted significant improvements in the patient’s strength and power.
Aquatic therapy is a gentle yet effective way to improve function, strength, and mobility through exercise in our warm water therapeutic pool. Give us a call to see if aquatic therapy might be the right next step for you in your rehabilitation and management of pain!
