What is hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy, or aquatic physiotherapy, are terms used to describe therapeutic exercise performed in water. The added benefit of completing exercise in water is that you can use buoyancy to limit the effect of gravity on the body to help reduce or minimize joint loading when you exercise
What are the benefits of hydrotherapy?
- The water helps support your bodyweight, which reduces joint loading
- The use of water-based resistance to improve muscle strength and joint range of motion
- The use of water pressure around an affected joint to assist with swelling management
- The use of warm water to allow you to exercise for longer without pain limiting your capacity to do so
- It is a safe, effective way to improve your balance and reduce the likelihood of falls.
What to expect when I attend Hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy is usually conducted in a small group setting and run by a physiotherapist. You will be provided with an individual exercise program and taught how to complete each exercise safely under the supervision of your physiotherapist. The session will usually last from anywhere between 20mins to 45 mins depending on the irritability of your condition.
You should expect some soreness following hydrotherapy that settles within 24 hours from exercise. The goal of hydrotherapy is to gradually improve the resistance, volume or complexity of exercise so feedback provided to your physiotherapist about your pain response to hydrotherapy is vital to assist with your rehabilitation.
Obviously, we can’t live in the water! So the end goal of hydrotherapy is to develop a water-based exercise program to help you improve strength, mobility and improve your tolerance to exercise load to translate to everyday life!
Who can benefit from hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy can benefit a wide variety of injuries/conditions but is particularly useful for patients who are unable to complete normal bodyweight exercises due to pain or increased swelling. Common examples of conditions that benefit from Hydrotherapy include:
- Lower limb Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Joint replacements (Including Total hip replacements, total knee replacements)
- Post shoulder surgery to assist with range of motion
- Chronic lower back pain
- Post operative lower limb conditions where weight bearing restrictions are in place
- Fibromyalgia or other neural based pain conditions
- Balance and co-ordination problems
- Multi-trauma injuries (E.g. following a car accident etc)
What do I need to bring?
Please bring clothing that you feel comfortable to exercise in water with. Generally, most of the exercises are performed in waist depth height so wearing an old loose-fitting shirt and swimming trunks is also a good idea to help you keep warm during exercise. Furthermore, please bring a towel, a change of clothes, a water bottle and reading glasses (if you think you might require these to read your exercise program).
What are the costs involved?
The cost to attend a physiotherapy supervised hydrotherapy session ranges from $30-$50 (depending on factors such as the length of the session), inclusive of your entry fee into the pool, development of your personal exercise-based program and supervision by a physiotherapist for the duration of the class. Hydrotherapy is also claimable through private health funds as a group-based exercise intervention so please follow this up with your private health fund to determine if you are eligible for this service.
How do I get involved?
If you would like any more specific questions relating to whether hydrotherapy is suitable for you then please feel free to book in for a free initial hydrotherapy assessment with one of our physiotherapists and we will be more than happy to help you out!