Healing with hydrotherapy

Behold the healing powers of water for pain relief and medical treatment! As an increasingly popular branch of physiotherapy, hydrotherapy utilises the properties of water to improve strength, enhance fitness, and decrease joint stiffness, bringing much needed relief to patients with orthopaedic conditions.

The Power of Hydrotherapy

A hydrotherapy session at Changi Sports Medicine Centre at Changi General Hospital, Singapore, lasts an hour and takes place in a pool filled with water heated to around 35 degrees Celsius. The warm water helps to improve blood flow and decrease joint pain, making it easier for patients to perform physiotherapy exercises, while at the same time creating resistance to movement, thus helping with strength training.

“Athletes can continue their training in a modified way by doing water running while they recover from injuries that may prevent them from running on land,” explains the centre’s Dr Cindy Lin. “The elderly or disabled can practice balancing exercises more easily in the water too, because it helps to support their body’s weight.”

The exercises they do may involve the use of aquatic gadgets, and include activities like walking lunges, shoulder mobility movements with pads for added resistance, and aqua-jogging with waist belts for cardiovascular endurance.

“The goals are simple. Relieve. Relax. Unload. Strengthen,” says Carmela Hernandez, Senior Physiotherapist at Aqua Physio Rehab Centre, also in Singapore. “Hydrotherapy lessens inflammation, increases blood circulation, strengthens muscles and ligaments, alleviates pressure on the joints, relaxes the muscles, and improves the overall sense of well-being. It may be used to sum up all these physiological processes, possibly with less need for drugs, or no need at all,” she explains.

Flotation Therapy the latest trend in water rehabilitation

In the Lion City, flotation therapy, another form of treatment that uses a liquid medium for healing, is also creating a buzz. It involves floating in a pool of concentrated Epsom salts in a specially-designed pod. The salt induces an anti-gravitational effect, much like what happens when one plunges into the Dead Sea. Similar to hydrotherapy, the body’s weightlessness in the skin-temperature liquid relaxes the muscles completely.

“All the body’s tension and aches that were masked by the weight of gravity can slowly dissipate,” explains Derrick Foo, founder of Palm Avenue Float Club, a home-based “float centre” that currently has the city’s only flotation tank. “Without gravity, blood can flow through the body faster, and injuries and aches can heal faster,” he elucidates.

A floatation therapy session can last up to 90 minutes. One of the pod’s key features is its light and sound-proof design. Hence, it is also known as a sensory-deprivation or isolation tank. Cutting off sensory stimuli lulls the mind and body into a state of deep relaxation, promoting healing and a sense of well-being.

The tangible physical and mental benefits of flotation therapy are attracting a dedicated following of professionals. Researchers are likewise looking at how it can be applied to problems associated with orthopaedics, sports injuries, mental stress and addiction, as well as conditions such as fibromyalgia and even hypertension. In fact, hydrotherapy has become so popular that Foo plans to open a commercial float centre at the end of 2014 widening the reach of this restorative therapy.

Further links:
Cgh.com.sg
Aquaphysio.com
Palmavefloatclub.com