A.G. Rhodes provides many programs to assist patients undergoing senior therapy and rehabilitation. For example, our Atlanta facility offers a therapy pool. During recent years, Aquatic Therapy has assisted numerous seniors seeking to maintain (or regain) flexibility, balance, and agility. This process frequently assists people seeking to strengthen muscles and improve posture, for instance.
Aquatic Therapy: Widely Popular Today
Not every senior care facility conducts Aquatic Therapy. However, this practice has gained wider popularity during recent years. Around the United States, a growing number of long-term care facilities seek to supply this service. Health experts recommend that patients discuss a water-based therapy program with their physicians before undertaking Aquatic Therapy, since this setting may not prove appropriate for all patients.
Some Advantages of Aquatic Therapy
Why does Aquatic Therapy suit the needs of many patients? By exercising in warm water, patients may experience resistance from the water without the need to lift or carry attached weights. The water offers a very gentle, convenient environment for developing stronger muscles. Additionally, some patients who might sustain problems if they fell walking on land can safely practice walking in a pool. The water provides a buoyant, supporting environment for many individuals.
Soothing Exercise
Some seniors suffer from arthritis, a painful condition. In some cases, even walking causes discomfort to these patients. The National Rehabilitation Information Center reports these patients may feel less painful standing or moving in a warm pool of water. The ability to practice moving through water helps some elderly individuals with arthritis maintain (or regain) flexibility that might otherwise gradually disappear over the course of time.
Comparing Water And Land Based Settings
An Aquatic Therapy program sometimes assists trained therapists in tracking a patient’s rehabilitation progress. For example, seniors undergoing exercise programs with a therapist sometimes use a warm Aquatic Therapy pool as the setting. After the passage of time, the therapist may ask a patient to undertake the same exercise routine on land. The patient enjoys an opportunity to compare the two experiences. Evaluating exercise in this way also may allow a therapist and a patient to appreciate how much progress the patient has made in regaining flexibility and developing muscle strength!