What is Hydrotherapy?
By Heather Whitfield
www.animalhydrotherapy.co.za
Hydrotherapy or Aquatic therapy is the use or application of water to promote or supplement the healing process. It is a non-stressful form of exercise and can be as basic as soaking sore feet, or tired muscles in a warm bath, submerge the body or part of the body in a spa bath or swimming in a heated pool, or using an underwater treadmill. These and other water activities including massage will provide a range of motion or exercise to limbs, bones, joints, muscles or nerves.
The primary advantage of Hydrotherapy over traditional methods is that it is a weightless environment that promotes the use of the limbs, and provides a range of motion and movement generally not attainable with normal exercise or rehabilitation programs. During the exercise the animal can move a limb with minimal stress or strain, thus allowing the muscle to move, strengthen and allow the tendons and ligaments to tighten up. Dogs that refuse to put weight on, or even use a leg following surgery will typically use the leg without any discomfort in the swimming stroke.
In order to appreciate the benefits of Hydrotherapy, one must understand the basic principles and properties of water including buoyancy, viscosity, resistance, hydrostatic pressure, surface tension and the impact of the water temperature.
Hydrotherapy is used in the treatment of various Pre-Operative Conditions and Post-Operative Rehabilitation such as:
à Arthritis à Arthroscopic surgery
à Bone (breakage) àCardiovascular Conditioning
à Cartilage Problems à Cruciate Ligament Repair
à Degenerative Myelopathy (CDRM) à Depression
à DJD (Osteoarthritis) à Elbow Dysplasia
à Femoral Head Osteoectomy (FHO) à Hip Dysplasia
à Hip Replacement à Hyperactivity
à Legg Calve Perthes Disease à Ligament Damage and Rapture
à Ligament Repair (ACL/TPLO) à Muscle Atrophy
à Muscular Disorders à Nervous System Disorders
à Obesity and Weight Loss à Orthopaedic Injuries
à Osteochondrosis (OCD) à Paralysis
à Skeletal Disorders à Spinal injuries and disease
à Soft Tissue Injuries à Spondylosis
Benefits of Hydrotherapy and Physical Rehabilitation includes:
à Cardiovascular fitness à Fitness, stamina & muscle tone
à Improved circulation à Increased mobility of joints
à Improved physical fitness à Increased range of motion
à Minimizing pain à None weightbearing exercise
à Psychological well-being à Reduced inflammation
à Reduced anxiety and stress à Reduction in muscle tension
àReduction in swelling, stiffness à Relaxation
à Relief from pain à Strengthening of muscles
à Weight loss
What is Underwater Treadmill Therapy?
Underwater Treadmill or Canine Aquatic Treadmill Therapy is possibly one most of the advanced rehabilitation programmes that can be created for a dog that suffers from an array of orthopaedic or neurological conditions.
As with swimming a dog in a hydrotherapy pool, it is important to have a clear understanding of the basic principles and properties of water. This range from cohesion (cohesive forces between molecules of a liquid), viscosity, turbulence, buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure and to know how the water level will influence the animals’ posture, flexion and extension of the limb angles as varying water levels causes resistance. All these components are important when planning an UWT rehabilitation program.
The advantage of the UWT is that the water level can be controlled and that means that specific areas can be targeted. Also if a person considers that Cohesion and Viscosity create resistance to movement through water - patient will develop more sensory awareness through the skin receptors. A weak patient will gain additional stabilisation through the straight line movement and his reaction time will improve.
In the Canine Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy Book (Saunders), Dr. Darryl L. Millis states that in general, on a treadmill, joint flexion is greatest with the water levels at or higher than the joint of interest and extension is greatest with water levels below the joint of interest.
Thus the water level is important for buoyancy and support provided to the dog in the UWT.
The Underwater Treadmill can be useful in the rehabilitation of various conditions and these conditions can often be classified into four categories:
à Developmental conditions such as hip and elbow dysplasia.
à Degenerative conditions such as Osteo-arthritis, Degenerative Myelopathy
à Post surgical cases
à Pre surgical cases
General benefits to the Underwater Treadmill include the following:
à Increased function of limbs and range of movement due to maximum flexion and
extension reached.
à Limb usage at an earlier stage after injury or surgery.
à Re-education of gait patterns after paralysis when knuckling has occurred.
à Increased stamina, energy, fitness and activity levels.
à Thermal properties of the water provide pain relief.
à Increased blood circulation.
à Increased muscle function, strengthening and toning
à Increased cardiovascular endurance.
à Increased mental stimulation.
à Improve quality of life!
At Paws-itive Paws-abilities, I have a customised spa bath, heated swimming pool and an underwater treadmill available to offer a range of hydrotherapy treatments to patients.
www.animalhydrotherapy.co.za
The primary advantage of Hydrotherapy over traditional methods is that it is a weightless environment that promotes the use of the limbs, and provides a range of motion and movement generally not attainable with normal exercise or rehabilitation programs. During the exercise the animal can move a limb with minimal stress or strain, thus allowing the muscle to move, strengthen and allow the tendons and ligaments to tighten up. Dogs that refuse to put weight on, or even use a leg following surgery will typically use the leg without any discomfort in the swimming stroke.
In order to appreciate the benefits of Hydrotherapy, one must understand the basic principles and properties of water including buoyancy, viscosity, resistance, hydrostatic pressure, surface tension and the impact of the water temperature.
Hydrotherapy is used in the treatment of various Pre-Operative Conditions and Post-Operative Rehabilitation such as:
à Arthritis à Arthroscopic surgery
à Bone (breakage) àCardiovascular Conditioning
à Cartilage Problems à Cruciate Ligament Repair
à Degenerative Myelopathy (CDRM) à Depression
à DJD (Osteoarthritis) à Elbow Dysplasia
à Femoral Head Osteoectomy (FHO) à Hip Dysplasia
à Hip Replacement à Hyperactivity
à Legg Calve Perthes Disease à Ligament Damage and Rapture
à Ligament Repair (ACL/TPLO) à Muscle Atrophy
à Muscular Disorders à Nervous System Disorders
à Obesity and Weight Loss à Orthopaedic Injuries
à Osteochondrosis (OCD) à Paralysis
à Skeletal Disorders à Spinal injuries and disease
à Soft Tissue Injuries à Spondylosis
Benefits of Hydrotherapy and Physical Rehabilitation includes:
à Cardiovascular fitness à Fitness, stamina & muscle tone
à Improved circulation à Increased mobility of joints
à Improved physical fitness à Increased range of motion
à Minimizing pain à None weightbearing exercise
à Psychological well-being à Reduced inflammation
à Reduced anxiety and stress à Reduction in muscle tension
àReduction in swelling, stiffness à Relaxation
à Relief from pain à Strengthening of muscles
à Weight loss
What is Underwater Treadmill Therapy?
Underwater Treadmill or Canine Aquatic Treadmill Therapy is possibly one most of the advanced rehabilitation programmes that can be created for a dog that suffers from an array of orthopaedic or neurological conditions.
As with swimming a dog in a hydrotherapy pool, it is important to have a clear understanding of the basic principles and properties of water. This range from cohesion (cohesive forces between molecules of a liquid), viscosity, turbulence, buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure and to know how the water level will influence the animals’ posture, flexion and extension of the limb angles as varying water levels causes resistance. All these components are important when planning an UWT rehabilitation program.
The advantage of the UWT is that the water level can be controlled and that means that specific areas can be targeted. Also if a person considers that Cohesion and Viscosity create resistance to movement through water - patient will develop more sensory awareness through the skin receptors. A weak patient will gain additional stabilisation through the straight line movement and his reaction time will improve.
In the Canine Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy Book (Saunders), Dr. Darryl L. Millis states that in general, on a treadmill, joint flexion is greatest with the water levels at or higher than the joint of interest and extension is greatest with water levels below the joint of interest.
Thus the water level is important for buoyancy and support provided to the dog in the UWT.
The Underwater Treadmill can be useful in the rehabilitation of various conditions and these conditions can often be classified into four categories:
à Developmental conditions such as hip and elbow dysplasia.
à Degenerative conditions such as Osteo-arthritis, Degenerative Myelopathy
à Post surgical cases
à Pre surgical cases
General benefits to the Underwater Treadmill include the following:
à Increased function of limbs and range of movement due to maximum flexion and
extension reached.
à Limb usage at an earlier stage after injury or surgery.
à Re-education of gait patterns after paralysis when knuckling has occurred.
à Increased stamina, energy, fitness and activity levels.
à Thermal properties of the water provide pain relief.
à Increased blood circulation.
à Increased muscle function, strengthening and toning
à Increased cardiovascular endurance.
à Increased mental stimulation.
à Improve quality of life!
At Paws-itive Paws-abilities, I have a customised spa bath, heated swimming pool and an underwater treadmill available to offer a range of hydrotherapy treatments to patients.
www.animalhydrotherapy.co.za
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