The physical therapy pool at Center for Physical Excellence continues to help our community one person at a time.
Salt Water Therapy Pool at CPE
Everyone knows how good it feels to take a dip in heated pool and how relaxing it is for tired and achy muscles. Not everyone knows the boost it can give to your rehabilitation routine.
“After I exercise in the pool I feel like a whole new woman,” says client Laina Stock.
“My surgeon can’t believe how fast I bounced back after spinal surgery,” says JP about his experience with aquatic therapy and exercise.
The Fountain of Youth’s legacy continues after Roy Tickonov’s article (Prescott Daily Courier, Feb. 1, 2004) regarding his experience with aquatic therapy at Center for Physical Excellence (CPE). Aquatic physical therapy is used to provide an environment to enhance healing of many musculoskeletal conditions. The therapeutic temperature of 88-92 degrees is perfect for physical therapy of a variety of orthopedic problems.
Aquatic therapy provides the following advantages:
- Less Pressure. Water has buoyancy which reduces the amount of pressure and compressive forces on your joints and spine. A water environment can be helpful after surgery or injury when your body is healing and you need to be careful about how much weight is placed on the surgical site or body.
- Decreased Pain. Moving against water creates a buffer to body movements. This provides an environment for movement with less pain. Warm water helps to decrease muscle spasms as well. Immersion in warm water increases comfort by increasing blood flow and promoting relaxation. Reducing gravity on joints also creates added comfort to painful joints and muscles.
- Ease of Movement. Water provides an environment to assist in motion and mobility. It provides an environment for safe and pain free strengthening and mobility/ joint range of motion activities. Your affected body part will in essence float, making it easier and less painful to move.
- Improved Exercise Tolerance. Conditioning and aerobic/endurance activities are easier in a water environment than in a gym setting. Running in the water can produce excellent cardiovascular improvements with minimal impact on your joints. Sports-specific activities can begin much earlier than it can on land. Water is 600-700 times more resistive than air which allows for strengthening of weakened muscles.
- Better balance. Uniform pressure of water in conjunction with buoyancy provides support to your body allowing you increased time to react without the fear of falling or getting hurt. The properties of water assist in challenging core stability, allowing for a safe environment for trunk stabilization and balance training.
The aquatic therapy pool at The Center for Physical Excellence is the first of its kind in the quad-city area. The multi-depth setting allows for a variety of weight bearing options and exercise choices. Physical therapy in an aquatic setting offers early painfree movement and faster healing. It is offered in conjunction with land based therapy or by itself as primary therapy. Individuals can access the pool with graduated stairs and hand rails.
Most musculoskeletal injuries can be helped with aquatic therapy. Research has shown aquatic therapy can help with the following conditions: arthritis, fibromyalgia, deconditioning, chronic and severe pain, balance and walking problems, injuries to the shoulder, neck, low back, hip knee, ankle and foot, total knee/hip replacement, various pre and post-surgical conditions (spinal fusions, laminectomy, ACL/Meniscus tears and repairs; other conditions that limit the body’s ability to bear weight).
“The pool therapy eased the pain because of the water’s buoyancy and reduction of stress on my joints. The expertise of the physical therapists guided me through the warm water exercises several times a week and soon my pain was significantly reduced,” reported Vicky Young, PhD.
– Laura Markey, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT
