Swimming. Playing volleyball. Surfing. There are many activities that take place in water that are beneficial for you. However, you might not know that water-based physical therapy can also offer many benefits.
Aquatic therapy is the formal name for water-based therapy. It involves you working with a physical therapist in a heated pool. One of the main benefits of physical therapy is it’s intended to help improve your strength and flexibility. However, exercising may be too difficult or dangerous if you have trouble balancing. You may also have painful conditions that make it too challenging to exercise. Fortunately, you can try aquatic therapy if exercising on land is too difficult for you, and there are five benefits aquatic therapy can offer.
- It’s gentle on your body
One of the reasons your physical therapist will recommend aquatic therapy in the first place is because exercising on dry land is hard on your joints. Water is buoyant, so it helps support your body weight, which relieves pressure and stress on your joints.
- It provides natural resistance to movement
Many exercises for strengthening your muscles require additional resistance to your body weight. On dry land, you have to use weights. These are difficult for some people to use and could potentially be dangerous if dropped. A benefit of aquatic therapy is water provides a natural level of resistance to your movements, which forces the muscles to exercise.
- It helps you balance
For some people, exercising is a challenge because of the risk of falling. This is especially a problem when you have a balance disorder. The buoyancy of water helps support the body’s weight. This means it’s easier to remain upright in water if you momentarily lose your balance.
- It cushions you from impact
Aquatic therapy mitigates many of the risks of falling because water helps support your body. Should you slip or lose balance, you’ll likely float and regain your balance before hitting the floor or a wall. If you do fall, you’ll fall more slowly than you would on land, so impacts are much less severe.
- It promotes an increase in circulation
Being partially submerged in water puts hydrostatic pressure on your body. This pressure can help improve your circulation, which helps get oxygen-rich blood to your muscles while exercising.
Visit Excel Sports & Physical Therapy for beneficial aquatic therapy
Wondering if you can benefit from aquatic therapy? Our team at Excel Sports & Physical Therapy can help you find out if aquatic therapy can help treat your injury or medical condition. We offer free screenings that can reveal exactly what issue you’re dealing with. Our team can then build you a personalized therapy plan designed to reduce pain and increase strength and mobility. Aquatic therapy can be included in this plan if appropriate, as well as other therapy techniques like:
Contact our Wentzville clinic today for more information about all the therapy services we offer or to schedule an initial appointment.
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