What is Aquatic Physical Therapy?

We get many questions from former, current and future patients about our new Aquatic Physical Therapy clinic in Westminster. The first question is usually, "What is Aquatic Physical Therapy?" Simply put, it's physical therapy performed in water by a licensed physical therapist or physical therapy assistant. It's really a therapeutic technique that unweights joints due to the qualities of the water on the body. It allows us to perform various rehabilitative exercises and activities in the water that the body could not perform on land. An example is after an operation on the knee, the surgeon may restrict weight bearing on the knee to protect the surgery. This patient has restrictions on what they can do on land. Many of these restrictions are eliminated when you place the body in water. Therefore, you can perform rehabilitative exercises earlier and speed up the return to life or sport.

The biggest problem we run into when using Aquatic Physical Therapy is patients do not want to get out of the water. It's a lovely 92 degrees and feels great on a sore body. A typical course of rehab starts in the water, then transitions to a combination of water/land, and then exclusively to land over the course of a few weeks. We remind our patients, we live on land.

To find out more about how our water can help you, please feel free to stop by our new Aquatic Center located at the Shoppes at Meadow Creek for a tour or call 410-861-5487 to speak to one of the therapists on staff.
Make sure to ask about our Wellness Programs sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation as well.