As humans we are designed to move continuously. We naturally climb trees, run and play, go up mountains, swim, and perform numerous other movements. With all of this movement we have become experts on injuring ourselves as well. During a lifetime of movement serious injuries requiring physical therapy can be expected. There are many different types of therapy and recovery programs for many of these injuries. Physical therapy can be divided into 2 groups; aquatic and traditional "in office" or "land" therapy. Aquatic therapy is an effective and popular type of therapy that is often prescribed for ligament sprains, muscle strains, arthritis and cerebral palsy. In this paper I will explain each of these 3 injuries and why it is often more effective and beneficial to use aquatic therapy in place of “in office” or “land” physical therapy.
Aquatic physical therapy is a form of rehabilitative health care for musculo-skeletal pain and/or disorders. Musculo-skeletal disorders affect the body's muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and nerves, and can be as simple as tennis elbow or as painful as fibromyalgia. Injuries or other physical ailments requiring physical therapy are first given an initial examination and diagnosis. A physical therapy regiment is prescribed to treat and restore of muscle and joint function and fitness levels. The length and extent of treatment depends on the severity of the injury or disorder.
Water treatments were first used for medical purposes in the early 19th century in Austria by Vincent Priessnitz. Priessnitz discovered water treatments from observing how wounded deer would bathe a damaged limb in running stream water quite often and it seemed to help the pain go away and the injury to slowly heal. After doing some research and experiments copying how the deer had bathed its wound Priessnitz decided to open a spa. This spa used his therapy which was not only cold water but also hard