Many benefits to aquatic therapy

PIKEVILLE — Physical therapist Debbie Akers stands behind her belief that aquatic therapy works.Aquatic therapy is ideal for Pikeville Medical Center patients who cannot tolerate land-based exercise.“The warmth of the water helps relax your muscles and improve circulation, and the buoyancy eliminates stress on your body,” Akers said.This allows patients to work on increasing muscle strength, flexibility and range of motion.“You’ll work one-on-one with your therapist to get the individual attention you need,” she stressed.Akers said the temperature in the pool plays an important role in helping patients recover.“The water in the hospital’s pool is monitored to 93 degrees,” Akers said.She said the therapy has been shown to provide PMC patients with relief of symptoms from a variety of arthritides, traumatic injuries or musculoskeletal conditions.Treatment duration is three or four times per week for as little as two weeks or more.“Each treatment here at the hospital is 30 minutes,” Akers said. “The length of treatment depends of the severity of the patient’s injuries.”Akers said patients can exercise in the pool with a greater range of motion without hurting joints, or reinjuring themselves.“The amazing thing is patients can actually watch a camera feedback of their feet under water and it helps them with getting onto the exercise machines,” Akers said.She added that the workouts get the patient’s blood moving faster through the injured area.“This makes healing faster for our patients,” she said.Ensuring that aquatic therapy patients have sanitary conditions is priority, Akers stressed.“Our patients are all required to shower prior to getting into the pool,” Akers said. “We have two private bath areas for those using therapy and they are handicap accessible.”Aquatic therapy offers an alternative form of rehabilitation and can be used in conjunction with more traditional outpatient therapies.“I feel like we have one of the best aquatic pool therapy treatment areas anywhere,” Akers said.“Everyone here takes great pride in providing our patients with the very best care possible.”

Source:

Medical Leader

14/02/08

http://www.medicalleader.org/pmc_news.html?id=2475

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