Aquatic Therapy in Rehabilitation

Abstract

The chief aim of current rehabilitation techniques is to allow the patient to re-acquire functional capacities in a shorter time, minimising disuse and/or post-surgical complications and returning the patient to normal sporting and working activity as quick as possible. Three methodology types are usually adopted:

• 1. Rehabilitation using passive and active closed kinetic chain

• 2. Rehabilitation using open kinetic chain

• 3. Rehabilitation in the pool

Hydrotherapy has been a part of medical treatment since Greek and Roman times. The use of water as a therapeutic technique has weathered the test of time and has repeatedly been noted for its many benefits. Even in today’s era of rapidly changing technological advancements, water can still be a valuable tool in the rehabilitation of a wide variety of conditions. Hydrotherapy or aquatic therapy was first documented by Hippocrates (460–375 B.C.). Although used widely throughout the first several centuries, little was known about the effects of water as a treatment method. As time passed, all the principles relating to the physics and mechanics of aquatic exercise were often supervised by people in Europe with very little training and were surrounded by unsupported and extravagant claims. This was a major factor in preventing the widespread acceptance of hydrotherapy as a mainstay in medical treatment. In the early 1900s, there was little discussion of exercising in the water. Even until recently, hydrotherapy was thought of simply as an adjunct to treatment and not considered a separate treatment method with its own real merits.