What is Aqua-Therapy?

7/29/2016

Author: Sarah Perruzza. Sarah is a Physiotherapy
Student from McMaster University Class of 2017

Suffer from arthritis? Enjoy swimming? In addition to the relaxation and fun that comes along with splashing around in a pool, physiotherapy can be enhanced with pool exercise. It’s a win-win situation! Exercising in a pool has been done for years with classes such as aqua-fit to get the heartrate up, and provide a safe environment to increase cardiovascular fitness while being gently on the joints. Aqua-fit classes are offered at many local community centres, and the YMCA. Although they offer a great workout, most classes are designed for uninjured people. How can you get the benefits of the water (and there are many) if you are rehabilitating an injury, or have recently had orthopedic surgery?

Aqua-Therapy exercises are designed for just that! They are designed and modified to use the water as resistance, to reduce the body weight felt on the joints, to increase ease of motion, reduce swelling, and provide a safe progression to land exercises. Aqua-therapy exercises and techniques can help add variety to your therapeutic regime and offer progression in your movement that may be challenging on dry land.

(photo source)

Recent research has found that aqua-therapy has positive effects on pain, disability, and overall quality of life in people with knee and hip osteoarthritis, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, and after rotator cuff repair due to improved function, range of motion, and decreased swelling. What that means, is by adding in just a few water based exercises into your therapy program we can move along your recovery and help you reach your therapy goals sooner.

By now you must be wondering how you can begin to incorporate aqua-therapy into your rehab. If you have access to a pool regularly, the physiotherapists at ISM Rehab can determine if aqua-therapy is appropriate for your injury and stage of rehabilitation, as well as select and teach you (on dry land) the aqua-therapy exercises that will work for you.

References

Aquatic exercise for the treatment of knee and hip osteoarthritis. Bartels EM et al., 2016 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Effects of Aquatic Therapy and Land-Based Therapy versus Land-Based Therapy Alone on Range of Motion, Edema, and Function after Hip or Knee Replacement: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Alison J. Gibson, Nora Shields 2015. Physiotherapy Canada.
Early Incorporation of an Evidence-Based Aquatic-Assisted Approach to Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair Rehabilitation: Prospective Case Study. Burmaster C, Eckenrode BJ, Stiebel M.. 2016. Physical Therapy.

10 Comments

Taylor Bishop link

12/14/2018 11:17:44 am

Thanks for helping me learn more about aqua therapy. It's good to know that the exercises are designed to use the water as resistance. I'm kind of interested to learn if the exercises would evolve or change based on how well someone is doing with those exercises.

Mary Ann Varah

3/27/2019 11:52:52 am

What sort of services are available for senior Staff?

Zachary Tomlinson link

8/20/2020 06:15:35 am

I find it interesting to learn that aqua therapy can provide relief for people suffering from osteoarthritis. My uncle was diagnosed with this condition 3 days ago. I'll be sure to educate him about aqua therapy, and suggest that he use this to unwind.

ISM Rehab link

8/21/2020 07:53:54 am

Thank you for the feedback! We are happy that we can help.

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9/23/2020 12:45:37 am

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Angelina C link

12/30/2020 04:17:47 am

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7/5/2022 07:58:41 am

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Linda Pinkney

4/23/2024 05:26:35 pm

I suffer from arthritis in my neck and at times it is very painful. I enjoy aqua fit and I'm wondering if you offer this type of exercise, how frequent are you classes and the cost.
Thank you
Linda

Lois Demers

5/21/2025 08:45:46 am

My husband has recently joined Aqua Relief for pain in his knees due to severe arthritis. He is hoping for a knee replacement and is also using the class for tolerable exercise. His instructor has him making moves and turns that cause pain in his knees. Is that normal?

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