Pool & Land Therapy

There are alternative solutions for reducing pain, increasing mobility, and restoring function.

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In the past ten years, aquatic therapy, exercise programs in swimming pools, has become an accepted part of physical therapy. Yet it was twenty-five years ago that Lynda Huey, M.S. founded Huey's Athletic Network, doing pioneering work that would develop into aquatic physical therapy. Huey discovered that the buoyancy of water allowed people to move more easily in water than on land and thereby begin early movement following injury or surgery. This early movement speeded healing, because there was no loss of fitness due to inactivity.

Even when movement is difficult on land, it can be gentle and comfortable in the water. Add resistance to water's buoyancy, and you have a great combination. The buoyancy makes movement possible, then the water's resistance provides the workload to strengthen muscles, joints, and other tissues.

When you immerse yourself in water, pain is reduced because the coolness of the water distracts you from your pain, and because the hydrostatic pressure of the water helps reduce swelling and inflammation. All of this adds up to comfort and relaxation in the water.

Specific Benefits of Aquatic Therapy for Hip Patients

Walk Normally Again

When your hip is disabled, you can't move well, at least not on land, but in the water, you're able to move in a natural manner. That means you can relearn correct walking patterns if you've been limping. The water's buoyancy eliminates much of your body's weight so you can reestablish a smooth gait again.

Increase Limited Range of Motion

The hip joint is capable of many movements: forward and backward, side-to-side, and a circular movement called circumduction. On land there is virtually no way to increase resistance to the hip joint while moving it evenly through its circular motion. Yet in water, as your hip performs circumduction, it meets equal water resistance throughout its entire movement. The hip joint can become smoother moving through this full circle and at the same time the muscles around the hip gain strength.

Improve Aerobic and Anaerobic Fitness

A painful hip can keep you from running, walking, biking, and doing many other typical fitness activities. But in water, sore hips can run, walk, and even jump so that aerobic and anaerobic fitness can be achieved painlessly.

The Transition to Land

You live on land, not in the water. So you must make the transition from the buoyancy of water to the gravity you face on land by doing land exercises as well.

The water allows painful hips to move, even when limited movement and severe pain are present on land. Movement in water can reverse the downward spiral of hip deterioration. Increased movement brings improved mobility and strength, which allows for further movement, even more difficult movements such as gravity-based land exercises.

As strength increases and walking patterns are normalized in water, it becomes time to move to land to further increase strength and focus on correct gait while facing gravity. More muscle fibers must fire to do the same tasks on land as you performed in water. Your body will feel heavier for a while and you'll have to work harder to do the basic skills that were so easy in the pool.

By going back and forth, from pool to land, pool to land, you learn from both environments. The water carries most of your weight while you focus on good posture and correct alignment. The water's resistence forces strength into the muscles specifically used for walking. Then on land you use the strength, posture, and alignment you developed in the pool to work against gravity.

In that way your body becomes skilled and strong in the functions necessary for your daily life. The result is improved functionability, the ability to function well within your specific environment.