Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy is a specialist form of physiotherapy conducted in warmer water.
It is a perfect tool that helps patient rehabilitation either used alongside or independent of conventional physiotherapy. Utilising the warm water, we can support your body and allow you to relax which promotes healing within your body.
How is a hydrotherapy pool different?
The water is kept between 32 and 34 degrees, much warmer than a normal swimming pool (usually no warmer than 28 degrees). The warmer water helps support your body and allows your muscles to relax. This then promotes healing and recovery in your body.
Why choose hydrotherapy?
Exercising in water is a fantastic treatment option as it helps to support your own body weight. It can be particularly useful if you’re recovering from surgery or you have a condition with limited mobility. If you are non weight-bearing following surgery, hydrotherapy can speed up recovery as the exercises in the water are slower and more gentle.
By using the warmth of the water and weightlessness, this treatment can help to:
- improve your movements and mobility
- reduce stiffness and inflammation in joints
- help strengthen muscles
- alleviate aches and pains
- improve your balance
- re-education of paralysed muscles
What conditions can hydrotherapy help with?
As hydrotherapy is a gentle and supportive type of physiotherapy treatment, it can be particularly useful in treating a number of conditions or injuries. It can be very helpful if you cannot exercise on land. As you are weightless in the water, there is less force placed on your joints such as your knees or hips. The slow and controlled exercises combined with the warm water can help with conditions such as:
- back pain
- fractures
- surgery such as knee or hip replacements or ACL reconstruction
- muscle sprains and strains
- arthritis – both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
- neurological conditions such as muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, MS, Parkinson’s disease
- balance conditions
- after strokes or head injuries