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Aquatic Therapy |
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How does Aquatic Therapy work? What are the benefits of Aquatic Therapy? Who can benefit from Aquatic Therapy? |
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Aquatic therapy is physical, occupational, or speech therapy provided in an aquatic setting. Therapists use the water and specifically designed activities to enhance, restore, maintain, and/or increase a person's functional abilities. Conditions can be acute, transient, or chronic. Many children feel comfortable in the water since it is considered to be a fun setting. When therapy is provided in the water, the children are able to discover how their body's move. They can gain increased control of their bodies, leading to increased confidence. In addition, the children may experience an increase in organized movement in the water which can be translated to land based activities and an overall improvement in daily functional abilities.
How does Aquatic Therapy work? Water is a fun and engaging environment in which children with special needs can move more freely. The physical properties of water allow for decreased apparent weight, increased support, increased time for movements, and resistance for strengthening. Adventurous Kids Therapy Services combines Halliwick techniques and the properties of water to provide the most valuable experience. Halliwick is a method of therapeutically teaching water safety and basic swim strokes to individuals with special needs. Therapeutically combing the physical properties of water in a social atmosphere enables improved participation in age appropriate functional and recreational activities. Once these skills are gained in the water, they are able to be transferred to daily activities. The following are specific components of Aquatic Therapy that land based therapies may not offer: Buoyancy- Provides assistance and support. It is used to decrease gravitational forces placed on weak limbs that are unable to bear much weight. Buoyancy allows a person to move more easily with decreased stress on muscles, joints, and bones. Heat- Aquatic therapy is provided in a heated pool. The warm water relaxes muscles and allows for improved joint range of motion. Hydrostatic pressure- The water surrounding the body helps circulate blood from the legs to the heart, often reducing any swelling in the ankles and feet. Once swelling is reduced, joint tenderness can decreases and range of motion can increase. Resistance - Allows for improvement in balance and strengthening in all muscle directions. On land, resistance is felt in only one direction (that of gravity), which leads to an over development of some muscles and under utilization of others. Resistance also increases sensory awareness.
Adventurous Kids Therapy Services utilizes Halliwick trained and Certified Therapists.
What are the benefits of Aquatic Therapy? Aquatic therapy has many benefits such as:
improvement
in motivation and arousal levels
Who can benefit from Aquatic Therapy? Children, including newborns, can benefit from Aquatic therapy. They can have a variety of diagnoses including:
How can your child participate in Aquatic Therapy? If you are interested in your child beginning aquatic therapy, please contact us. You will need to have your child’s physician sign a prescription requesting physical, occupational, and/or speech therapy. We would be glad to send you the required paperwork and then schedule your child as quickly as possible.
Aquatic therapy is provided at two locations: Cosmos Fitness Center, which is located at 2745 Sandy Plains Road, in Marietta.
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