Arthritis pain is one of the most common conditions that physicians see in their office. About one in four people suffer from arthritis pain, and that can be pain in a joint or it can be pain in multiple joints. Everybody responds a little differently. Let’s discuss what arthritis is and how you can find relief from arthritis pain with aquatic therapy at Rebound.
What Is Arthritis?
Arthritis is the degeneration or destruction of joints within the body. That could be caused by overuse over time, or an old injury that started to irritate the joint, or it can be a systemic issue (when arthritis goes beyond the joints and affects other parts of the body).
Here at Rebound, we have an aquatic therapy pool that can help in those types of conditions to reduce stress and strain on the body part that has arthritis.
What Is Aquatic Therapy?
Aquatic therapy uses the buoyancy and resistance properties of water to help improve strength and reduce pain throughout the body. Our pool at Rebound is about 10 x 20 feet. We keep the water at about 94 degrees, and it’s a saltwater pool.
How do we use the pool to treat arthritis pain? Here are just a few ways:
- We have a flow system in the pool which allows you to walk in the water against the current. This added resistance helps build strength.
- We can also work on balance while in the water. The nice part about water and buoyancy is we can reduce strain and stress on the joints whether it’s your low back region, your hips, knees, or ankles. And then we can fully unweight the body in our deeper six-foot level.
- We also have different apparatuses in the pool that we can use, from flotation devices to increasing resistance by adding paddles to the hands to make things a little harder as you get stronger in the water.
The buoyancy of water reduces the weight of the body which reduces the pain. Once we can reduce pain in the body, we can increase mobility, increase function, and just allow you to move more freely in the water. This ultimately transitions to improved mobility, reduced pain, and increased strength on land.
Visit Rebound for Aquatic Therapy for Your Arthritis
If you have an interest in aquatic therapy or if you think that it may benefit you, we would love to talk to you. We’ll conduct a free physical therapy screening to look at your range of motion, your mobility, and what’s causing your pain.
Call us at 785-271-5533 to schedule your free physical therapy screening today and let us help you get back in action.
