Aquatic Therapy

Aquatic therapy is a type of physical therapy that is performed in water in order to use the resistance of water instead of weights. It aims to rehabilitate patients after injury, with arthritis or chronic illnesses such as obesity because it does not place as much stress on the joints as opposed to the amount of weight placed on the joints by exercise outside of the water, making it easier and less painful to perform exercises. This observation is noticed as the buoyant force, which is the main property of aquatic therapy. Buoyancy is defined as the upward thrust acting in the opposite direction to the force of gravity (Buoyancy, para. 1). This property is used in rehabilitation therapy to assist in movement, resist movement, and as support of the patients weight. Aquatic therapy utilizes the physical properties of water including buoyancy, fluid resistance, hydrostatic pressure and temperature to achieve rehabilitation. And it helps increase joint mobility, range of motion, muscle strength, endurance, and decrease pain and muscle spasms, as well as improving balance and promoting relaxation. Water is an excellent source of resistance because of its viscosity, and this resistance allows patietns to strengthen their muscles without the need and burden of weights. Waters buoyancy and its resistance factor, patients are able to perform their exercises decresed joint stress. In simpler terms, buoyancy allows participants to experience a partial floating feeling when they enter the pool. When a person is in water, the water will naturally want to push the person up and the the more deeply immersed in water, the less you weigh. For movement to occur on land, the muscles must generate enough force to overcome the pull of gravity. In water, buoyancy acts as a counterforce to gravity (Koury, page 14). This observation provides support for the body. Hydrostatic pressure is also used in aquatuc therapy to decrease swelling and imporve joint position awareness (Hydrostatic Pressure, para.2). It is produced by the weight of the water, and acts on every part of body in water in the same direction and at equal amounts of pressure at a particular depth. This results in an evenly distribution of pressure around all joints during aquatic therapy. Also, the pressure produced by water against the body acts like a full body support hosiery, which is extremely useful for patients with swelling in certain areas and patients with excessive edema. Also, being in warm water relaxes the muscles and vasodialtes vessels, which increases blood flow to injured areas. Similar to how one must warm up/ stretch before perform strenuous activity on land in order to warm up the muscles, the warm water warms the muscles up automatically. Warming up the muscles before exercising is extremely important as it decreases the possibility of injuries. This aspect of aquatic therapy is especially therapeutic for patients with muscle spasms, back pain, and fibromyalgia. In conclusion, properties of physics and water are present in everyday life. Aquatic therapy utilizes these two together in rehabilitaion of patients.

References

Auty, Jenny, Aquatic Therapy. Rainbow Rehabilitation Centers. Retrieved from: https:// docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:xhJnVKVwbJ4J:www.rainbowrehab.com/ RainbowVisions/article_downloads/articles/Art-THPY-Aquatic.pdf+buoyant+force+in +aquatic+therapy&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiSa7O0DxvB7XO_FYi-

Buoyancy for Healing. Aqua for Balance: Holistic Approaches for Bodymind Balance. Retrieved from: http://www.aqua4balance.com/Natural-Healing/water-healing-properties/ buoyancy-in-aquatic-therapy.html

Hydrostatic Pressure. Aqua for Balance: Holistic Approaches for Bodymind Balance. Retrieved from: http://www.aqua4balance.com/Natural-Healing/water-healing-properties/ hydrostatic-pressure-in-aquatic-therapy.html

Inverarity, Laura. Aquatic Therapy About.com. Retrieved from: http:// physicaltherapy.about.com/od/strengtheningexercises/a/aquatictherapy.htm Koury, Joanne M. Aquatic Therapy Programming: Guidelines for Orthopedic rehabilitation. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books? id=1MNjf268GxYC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=buoyant+force+in+aquatic