When physical therapists treat people with back pain, they sometimes perform the treatment in a pool and use a method called aquatic therapy. This therapeutic exercise technique uses the buoyancy, support and accommodating resistance of water to stretch, strengthen, mobilize and relaxed injured muscle groups. Because aquatic exercise frees the patient from the constraints of gravity, it is particularly beneficial for people suffering from lower back pain. The results of a 1999 study published in the "Kurume Medical Journal" indicate a six-month aquatic exercise program significantly alleviates back pain.
Misconceptions
The words "aquatic therapy" and "hydrotherapy" are sometimes used interchangeably. While the two methods share a history and some similarities, they are actually two different techniques. Aquatic therapy involves movement and exercise, whereas physical therapists prescribe warm-water hydrotherapy for relaxation. A person suffering from back pain, for example, may find symptom relief in by sitting in a warm whirlpool. If he wanted to heal the muscle injuries that caused the pain, he would have to perform aquatic therapeutic exercises.
History
Water-based healing methods date back as far as 2,400 B.C., says Lori Thein Brody and Paula Richley Geigle, authors of "Aquatic Exercise for Rehabilitation and Training."
Aquatic therapy techniques periodically re-emerged through the centuries, taking on new forms and backed by an increasingly sophisticated body of scientific research. The switch from passive water therapy to active, therapeutic exercise did not occur until the mid-19th century, when Sebastian Kniepp, a Bavarian priest, began researching the benefits of underwater exercise. Early 20th century research on water's buoyancy inspired a therapeutic exercise method called hydrogymnastics. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was diagnosed with polio, he performed a variation of this method in a pool in Georgia. Despite research and anecdotal evidence of the success of aquatic exercise treatments, the Aquatic Physical Therapy Section of the American Physical Therapy Association was not founded until 2005.
Time Frame
An aquatic therapy called the Bad Ragaz Ring Method emerged in Europe during the 1950s and is still widely used. The therapist places flotation rings around the patient's neck, arms, pelvis and knees and has her lie horizontally in the pool, either on her back or on her stomach. She then holds her patient at a fixed point in her body, such as her arms and legs, and instructs the patient to perform flexion, extension and rotational movement patterns.
Properties
The Bad Ragaz Ring Method might be less effective if performed on the floor or an exercise mat, which might cause discomfort for back patients. Water provides a comfortable alternative to floor exercise. Water has a specific gravity of 1.0, and the average human body has a specific gravity of 0.974. Anyone with a specific gravity less than 1.0 is buoyant and will float in water. Obese people tend to have low specific gravity, which eases flotation and enables them to perform exercises they would be unable to do on land. Likewise, people with low body fat will be less buoyant and may require flotation devices for certain exercises.
Types
Physical therapeutics may use a variety of other therapeutic aquatic exercises for treating back pain. Ai chi, created by Jun Konno of Japan, is a warm-water technique that combines deep breathing exercises with slow arm, leg and torso movements. The technique, performed in shoulder-depth water, combines the exercise benefits of aquatic therapy with the relaxation benefits of hydrotherapy. Some therapists use forward and backward pool-walking exercise as a means of correcting the faulty gait patterns related to lower back pain.
References
- National Center on Physical Activity and Disability: Aquatic Therapy
- Spine Health: Water Therapy Exercise
- "Aquatic Exercise for Rehabilitation and Training"; Lori Thein Brody and Paula Richley Geigle; 2009
- Wheelchairnet: An Aquatic Bag of Tricks
- PubMed: The Efficiacy of Aquatic Exercise for Patients with Low Back Pain
