Benefits Of Aquatic Physical Therapy

Physical therapists have used “hydrotherapy” as a passive therapeutic intervention for many years, with equipment such as whirlpools.9 “Aquatic Physical Therapy” refers to active interventions performed in the water. The aquatic environment is used to provide weight relief to the body, antigravity positioning, and increased resistance as therapeutic tools. Aquatic PT also provides multiple sensory stimuli through buoyancy, relative density, water temperature, viscosity, resistance, and vestibular input. With joint loading forces greatly reduced in the water, aquatic therapy provides the opportunity for low impact exercise and allows for ease of active movement, reduction of hypertonicity, and improved circulation, and provides psychosocial