Hydrotherapy minimises the stress on the muscles and joints, allowing normal and pain free movement. It is safe, fun and has many benefits which include: strengthening and toning your muscles, improving your cardio-vascular endurance and recovery from an injury.
If pain is restricting your ability to exercise and you have tried many other therapies with little improvement, Hydrotherapy could be a great solution for you.
What is Hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy, or Aquatic Physiotherapy, is physical exercise and physiotherapy conducted in a specifically designed heated pool. It is a program of exercises individually designed by our highly trained Physiotherapists who work one on one with the client.
The water is heated to up to 31-35 degrees and pools are selected to ensure there is sufficient access and an ideal depth for every client. Fear of water or poor swimming ability is no reason to avoid Hydrotherapy, as our Physiotherapist will supervise your activities usually in waist deep water. No matter your age or level of ability, exercising in water can be modified to be as challenging or supportive as you need.
During a Hydrotherapy session, the warmth of the water helps to ease any aches and pains and the buoyancy of the water helps take the pressure off the injured area and minimises the stress on the affected muscles and joints. This winning combination allows patients to complete their exercises in a pain-free environment, allowing them to work towards reaching their goals faster.
What are the main benefits of Hydrotherapy?
- Reduces load bearing on joints
- Reduces muscle aches and tightness
- Reduces swelling
- Increases muscle strength
- Improves cardiovascular fitness
- Improves balance and reduces falls risk
- Stress relief
The water also provides resistance by using movement through the water or by forcing floatation devices into the water. This works muscles in a different way than usual and can greatly improve your strength. There are also the benefits of hydrostatic pressure (even in 1-2m of water) as it can assist with circulation by helping your lymphatic system return fluid from your tissues back into the bloodstream, so it can be circulated around the body again. This pressure and the exercises performed, can greatly improve swelling in the body.
What Conditions Does Hydrotherapy commonly help?
A variety of conditions respond well to the comforting nature of water and commonly include –
- General Joint pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Neurological conditions
- Pre-Post Operation rehabilitation
- Injury rehabilitation and management
- General Fitness and Wellbeing
Hydrotherapy for Work Injuries or Sporting Rehabilitation
Physiotherapists use Hydrotherapy to assist in the rehabilitation of musculoskeletal problems.
Exercising in the water has long been used by professional sporting clubs to help recover from weekend games as well as part of injury management.
Managing a work injury is no different and some of our biggest users of our Hydrotherapy Services are patients who have suffered a work-related injury and need to be rehabilitated before they can return to their job – whether they’re a tradie, a nurse or an office worker.
Often injuries make doing Physiotherapy exercises too painful, even when everyone knows that restoring movement and regaining strength is essential to returning to work. This is where Hydrotherapy sessions come into their own. The warmth of the water helps to ease any aches and pains and the buoyancy of the water helps take the pressure of the injured area. This combination allows patients to complete their exercises in a pain-free environment, allowing them to work towards reaching their goals faster. It also helps alleviate the frustration many workers feel from being ‘stuck at home doing nothing’. Knowing they can safely participate in this form of supervised exercise helps with a feeling of progress and achievement and can help with the potential mental impacts of suffering a work injury.
Hydrotherapy for the Disabled, Obese and Elderly
Many adults are not meeting the required amount of physical activity each day. Meeting the guidelines can be increasingly difficult for the obese, elderly or disabled, with various barriers, with the most common being pain. Hydrotherapy allows people of all abilities to participate with reduced pain.
What you can expect from an SPHC Hydrotherapy Session
At SPHC, we offer tailored Hydrotherapy sessions. The facilities at the Sandgate Pool provide an indoor, heated pool, with ramp access so you can enjoy the pool rain hail or shine!
Our Physiotherapists conduct an assessment in the clinic before arranging your first Hydrotherapy session so they can prepare an appropriate, individualised program to help you get back to normal faster. What better way to beat the heat, get your exercises in, and relieve your pain, than jumping in the pool!
To book your Hydrotherapy session, please call us on 38691099.
