What are some benefits of aquatic therapy?

What is Aquatic Therapy?

Arthritis. Fibromyalgia. Shoulder pain. Back pain. These are just a few of the many issues that can benefit from aquatic therapy.

Aquatic therapy is a form of physical therapy that takes place in a pool of water. Under the guidance of a certified professional, you perform exercises and motions that can help treat your condition. Often, these treatments would be too difficult to do outside of the water. In addition, aquatic therapy can offer many other benefits to physical therapy patients. 

Benefits of aquatic physical therapy

Aquatic therapy can help you as an add-on to your physical therapy plan or as a stand-alone form of therapy. It’s relaxing and offers many benefits your body will love, such as:

  1. It’s gentle on sore joints and muscles.
  1. Water helps support you so it’s easier to balance.
  1. Water helps cushion impacts, so pain from striking your foot or falling is reduced.
  1. Water helps provide pressure on joints and muscles to help reduce pain and swelling.
  1. Aquatic therapy forces your whole body to work, which provides exercise for your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

What is involved in aquatic therapy?

In your aquatic therapy sessions, your physical therapist can use different types of therapeutic exercises to produce benefits for you. A few of the therapeutic exercises your physical therapist could use during aquatic therapy are: 

  • Targeted stretches
  • Strengthening exercises
  • Range-of-motion exercises
  • Joint mobilization exercises

Excel Sports & Physical Therapy offers aquatic therapy

Ready to find out how aquatic therapy can benefit you? Our team at Excel Sports & Physical Therapy is trained and certified in using aquatic therapy to help people with many issues. We’ll start by performing a free screening of your condition. Then, our team will construct a personalized therapy plan for you that can include aquatic therapy. They may also include other therapy techniques in your plan, such as: 

Don’t wait to start getting aquatic therapy from our experienced therapy team. Contact our Wentzville clinic today for more information about this therapy method or to schedule your initial appointment.