What is Aquatic Therapy?
Aquatic therapy, offered by Dr Meenakshi Kadam, is a specialised form of physiotherapy conducted in a water pool in the comfort of your home. This therapeutic approach harnesses the unique properties of water to provide a gentle yet effective environment for rehabilitation and exercise for variety of conditions.
Benefits of Aquatic Therapy
For Children:
- Improved Motor Skills: Water’s buoyancy reduces the effects of gravity, allowing children to practice movements more easily where muscle weakness is prominent.
- Enhanced Muscle Strength: Resistance from water helps build muscle strength without putting excessive strain on joints and ligaments.
- Increased Coordination: Activities in water promote better coordination, gait pattern and balance, crucial for developmental milestones.
For Adults:
- Pain Relief: Buoyancy reduces weight-bearing stress on joints, offering relief from chronic pain conditions like arthritis, heel pain, chronic back pain.
- Improved Range of Motion: Warm water relaxes muscles and joints, facilitating greater flexibility and mobility especially in sedentary lifestyle.
- Enhanced Cardiovascular Fitness: Aquatic exercises provide a cardiovascular workout with reduced impact on the body, thereby improving endurance and stamina.
- Neurological ConditionsAquatic therapy is beneficial for individuals with neurological conditions such as stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease, etc:
- Balance and Coordination: Water’s support allows for safe practice of balance exercises, improving stability and coordination and improving walking.
- Motor Control: Gentle resistance from water aids in retraining muscles and enhancing motor control especially in stroke and spinal cord injury patients.
- Pain Management: Warm water soothes muscles and joints, alleviating pain associated with neurological conditions like GBS, Multiple Sclerosis.
Orthopaedic Conditions
For orthopaedic patients recovering from surgeries or managing chronic conditions like:
- Post-Surgical Rehabilitation: Water’s buoyancy facilitates early mobility and exercises to aid recovery after joint replacements or ligament repairs.
- Musculoskeletal Pain: Hydrostatic pressure reduces swelling and inflammation, promoting faster healing of soft tissues and ligaments.
- Functional Mobility: Aquatic therapy helps restore and improve functional movement patterns essential for daily activities and maximise independence.
