Aquatic Therapy Archives - Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy

Would you try Aquatic Therapy?

What so good about Aquatic Therapy?

Injuries are a part of life that cannot be ignored, any given day could be the day a simple accident may occur that could change your life. People may try their best to stay healthy and fit, but as you get older the body ages and is more susceptible to injuries. This is where Physical Therapy (PT) comes into the rescue.

Depending on where you live, if a clinic offers Aquatic Therapy, you may wonder what is it all about? According to Ann Swanson from Pemi-Baker Community Health, she states that “Aquatic therapy continues to grow in popularity as a safe complement or alternative to traditional land-based therapy and it is suitable for children and adults of all ages and fitness levels. You do not need any swimming experience to gain benefits of the water”. This can be intriguing to people who are mostly unable to move their body or joints due to an increased amount of pain or general weakness overall.

Katy Schwartzer, a Physical Therapist from Pemi-Baker Community Health indicates that “The biggest benefit of aquatic therapy is that people who are injured, disabled or otherwise not capable of comfortably or safely performing exercises on land can easily do so in the water”. When you are in the water, the concept of buoyancy applies, where the water can reduce stress on the body or joints to allow patients to perform exercises with less pain. “The natural pressure of water in therapy pools reduces joint and soft-tissue swelling and provides enough resistance to strengthen muscle”. So, when the opportunity presents itself, would you try aquatic therapy?

Swanson, Anna. Would Aquatic Physical Therapy Benefit You? 18 Aug. 2020,

www.pemibakercommunityhealth.org/would-aquatic-physical-therapy-benefit-you/

Aquatics For Female Athletes

Aquatic Therapy for the Female Athlete

Why do we want to get athletes into the pool? The aquatic environment is a great place to put athletes, and especially the female athlete because there are certain injuries that are more prevalent in the female population. Females are at higher risk for ACL tear, stress fractures, patellofemoral pain, and ITB pain – all of which can easily be treated in the pool.

Why are females more at risk? There are several factors that contribute to risk for injury, such as jumping style, wider pelvis leading to changes in the angle of the hip and knee, knees coming in which effects take-off and landing and leads to an increase in force and stress on the bones. Another factor is increased ligament laxity in females during certain times of the month in combination with increased force leads to increase risk of ACL tear. Females must work harder to overcome these forces and stresses. There are differences between quad and HS strength ratio in which females overuse quads which can contribute to patellofemoral pain; glute weakness also makes women work harder to put the pelvis in a good position to prevent PFP.

Aquatic therapy can be used post injury and as preventative care. The water allows athletes to train using a similar movement pattern they would on land for their sport with less impact forces and more off-loading of the joint due to buoyancy of water – decreasing the risk of repetitive loading on the musculoskeletal system. Properties of water such as viscosity, drag, and turbulence all creates more resistance, which can lead to pin-pointing potential weaknesses that are typically not observed on land. Resistance can be modified by changing speed and/or increasing surface area. Water properties also allow for decreased swelling, decrease pain, improve ROM, and building strength. Doing repetitive movements in the pool allows for the development of muscle memory, thus during the transition to land decreases risk of injury.

Overall, the aquatic environment offers many benefits to athletes, especially female athletes due to higher risk of injury. Utilizing it for injury recovery or preventative treatment can help to improve strength for better outcomes on the field!

Gardening and Back Pain: The Importance of Proper Body Mechanics

Gardening can be a great hobby. It adds value and curb appeal to your home, but most importantly, it is relaxing. However, back pain often gets in the way making gardening can excruciating!

This could very well be because you are using improper body mechanics.

Improving your Body Mechanics while Gardening

Shoveling: Shoveling dirt (or snow) can put a tremendous amount of strain on your back. To minimize the stress and excess muscle tension shoveling puts on your back, you must use your body as leverage. Be sure to move your entire body, not just your arms and back.

Weeding: Instead of constantly bending over, try sitting on a stool. You will be amazed at how this simple solution can really minimize your back pain.

Heavy Lifting: Gardening sometimes requires some heavy lifting. To avoid injury, make sure you bend from the hips and knees, rather than the waist.

Wheel-Barrowing: Just like heavy lifting, be sure to lift with the knees, not the back. This will save you from any unneeded back strain.

Mowing the Lawn: The easiest way to help avoid back pain is to invest in a self-propelled or riding lawn mower. However, some of us are not lucky enough to be able to afford this luxury. To avoid back strain, be sure to position yourself in a comfortable position. Make sure you are not bending over. After an hour of mowing the lawn, this could prove to be pretty painful.

Treating Back Pain using Physical & Aquatic Therapy

Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy offers physical and aquatic therapy to treat a full range of outpatient physical therapy needs, including back injuries, back pain, and much more. Our therapists have a wide range of experience treating professional and recreational athletes as well as individuals who have suffered injuries at work or in accidents involving personal injury.

If you have any questions about Body Mechanics or Aquatic Therapy, please Contact Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy by visiting cbayaquapt.com today!

Thank you for choosing Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy!

We are privately owned and operated and have been proud to serve the communities of Bowie, Laurel and Severna Park, Maryland for nearly 10 years. Our company’s goal is to provide the highest quality rehabilitation services in our region. We keep our patient volume low in order to spend more time with each patient at every visit.

Lower Back Pain Treatment in Maryland

Low back pain can be a debilitating condition, often preventing those afflicted with pain from fully living their life. If you have chronic low back pain, you know just how debilitating it can be. You do not want to do anything, let alone undergo excruciating physical therapy.

Did you know there is an alternative to traditional physical therapy, an alternative that may help alleviate much of that dreaded discomfort?

The Solution: Aquatic Therapy!

Aquatic therapy strengthens muscles, decreases pain, increases flexibility, and more in a virtually pain-free environment. How?

Aquatic Therapy decreases Pain: Aquatic therapy helps alleviate pain, making low back pain treatment much more bearable.
Aquatic Therapy is Low Impact: The buoyancy of the water helps decrease pressure on your joints while also adding support, thus lessening pain.
Aquatic Therapy provides Ease of Movement
Aquatic Therapy is Relaxing: The warm therapy pool decreases spasms and pain, promoting muscle relaxation.
Aquatic Therapy promotes Blood Circulation: The hydrostatic pressure of the water helps to increase blood circulation.
Aquatic Therapy Maximizes every Movement: The added resistance of the water helps maximize every movement.

Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy: Treating Low Back Pain at our Bowie Aquatic & Physical Therapy Center

At Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy, our therapists have a wide range of experience treating patients of all ages and backgrounds with a wide variety of disorders, including low back pain. Our company’s goal is to provide the highest quality rehabilitation services in our region. We keep our patient volume low in order to spend more time with each patient at every visit.

If you have any questions Low Back Pain Treatment, please contact us by visiting cbayaquapt.com today! And if you are a new patient, please review our New Patient Forms page before your first visit

Aquatic Therapy Myths and Realities

At Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy, we are often explaining just what aquatic therapy is. In fact, there are quite a few myths about aquatic therapy. So we are taking it upon ourselves to shed some light on Aquatic Therapy Myths & Realities.

Aquatic Therapy Myth #1:

You need to know how to swim to do Aquatic Therapy

This could not be any further from the truth. The typical aquatic therapy pool is just four to five feet deep, meaning most patients are still able to stand.

Aquatic Therapy Myth #2:

Aquatic Therapy restricts Movement

Wrong again. Because of the buoyancy of the water, patients can actually move more freely in the water than on land. This puts less stress on the joints and helps reduce pain, making aquatic therapy the perfect solution for patients suffering from low back pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and more.

Aquatic Therapy Myth #3:

Aquatic Therapy is only for Patients with Chronic Pain

Nope! Although aquatic therapy is ideal for patients suffering from chronic pain, many other types of patients can benefit from this type of therapy, as well. In fact, at Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy, we treat a wide range of injuries and illnesses, from foot pain to balance disorders to sports injuries to neurological problems and so much more.

Aquatic Therapy Myth #4:

The Pool Is Cold

Actually, the aquatic therapy pool is kept very warm. This helps decrease spasms and pain, promoting muscle relaxation.

Aquatic Therapy Myth #5:

I have to spend the whole Time in the Pool

Nope. The overall goal is to help speed recovery and transition to land-based physical therapy. Because of this, many of our patients do a combination of aquatic and traditional therapy.

So is aquatic therapy right for you? The only way to find out is to ask your doctor.

If you have any questions about Aquatic Therapy, please contact Chesapeake Bay Aquatic & Physical Therapy by visiting cbayaquapt.com today! And if you are a new patient, please review our New Patient Forms page before your first visit.

Benefits of Aquatic Therapy for Athletes

By Kelly Wright – Fraser

The benefits of aquatic therapy such as the effects of buoyancy to decrease weight bearing a joint impact, hydrostatic pressure to decrease swelling and improve circulation, and the relaxation benefits and tissue extensibility resulting from the typically warm water in aquatic therapy pools are most often associated for patients with arthritis or chronic pain. When we think of aquatic therapy for the athletic population, we usually think of it during times of acute injury when weight bearing may be restricted or pain may be a significant barrier to land exercises. However, aquatic therapy can also be just as beneficial during the later stages of injury recovery for an athlete with a significant impact on injury prevention and their return to sports. With school sports well underway, here are a couple of ways aquatic therapy can benefit athletes at all stages of their recovery.

Lower friction in the water provides ease of movement allowing for fuller and easier spontaneous active range of motion during exercises which allows athletic patients to maximize their recovery with both concentric (shortening muscles against a load, like lifting a weight) and eccentric (lengthening a muscle against a load such as the downward motion during a squat) muscle contractions. Eccentric strengthening exercises performed at maximal muscle length can be a key component both in recover and re-injury prevention for muscle strains.

Buoyancy can both help with pain during weight bearing and also provide a safe environment for an athlete to reintroduce higher impact and closed kinetic chain exercises such as squats, lunges, bridges, and plyometrics. The viscosity of the water also helps athletes to slow down their movements, and the increase in processing time can allow for better positioning and righting of the body. So, for example, when a patient is recovering from an ACL tear, they can work on exercises like squat jumps and walking lunges with less impact to the knee joint and with better ability to adjust their foot placement and joint alignment to prevent stress to ligaments and other connective tissue structures.

By training the muscles to work appropriately in the water, a lower risk environment, we see better outcomes with return to land-based activities. This quickly gets our patients back to doing what they love with less chances of reinjuring themselves, allowing them to get the most out of their season.