Benefits of water therapy
There are many benefits of water in the treatment of diseases and other health related problems. The treatment of disease through water is called water therapy. Water has been used successfully throughout the centuries for washing away tensions, muscle aches and pains. Water therapy helps in the treatment of arthritis and other debilitating conditions.
The water therapy use 3 important components in order to decrease pain and re-habilitate, these components are resistance, buoyancy, and drag and turbulence.
Water therapy is usually done to rehabilitate a specific area of the body that has been injured or is causing pain due to a condition. Benefits of water therapy is unlimited such as water therapy can help with are fibromyalgia, recovery from strokes, head injuries, spinal cord injury, Chronic Pain Syndrome, arthritis, neck injuries, post surgery rehabilitation, sports injuries etc. in case if you do not have such conditions listed above , you can use water as an soothing agent. \
Components of water therapy:
Buoyancy
- The upward thrust which your body receives in the water, opposite of the downward thrust that body experiences on land due to gravity.
- This buoyancy force helps decrease your weight by ninety percent when in the water.
- With this buoyancy the force of compression on the joints is decreased dramatically, making it possible to reach full range of motion.
- The water acts like a natural supporter for all of your limbs. All of this means that it is possible to move and exercise in water with little risk of injury.
Resistance
Force that works against the muscle making it work harder. Water is denser than air and increases the resistance on the muscles by 12. It is possible to build greater strength in the water than on land due to the resistance factor and the lack of land gravity.
Drag & turbulence
- There both factors works together to give maximum benefits to the body.
- Drag creates opposition to the movements of the limbs in the water.
- Turbulence is the agitation of the surrounding water that can be created in the water that can be used as a hydro massage effect.
Water therapy uses the elements of stretching, exercise and massage to reach its goals.
When the water is kept at or above 86 degrees the muscles loosen and become less tense. It is possible to increase the stretch and lengthen loose muscles that could never be achieved on land. Do some warm up of all joints by water walking, jogging or swimming laps for 7 minutes before doing any deep stretching. It is even more effective to do another set of aerobic exercise in the pool for about 20 minutes and then do an even deeper stretch. Once the body is warmed up the range of motion can be increased on a limb or part of the body that needs rehabilitation.
More and more people are recognizing the benefits of warm water in the massage realm. Massage therapists can conduct a massage in a warm hot tub and really do wonders for tense muscles.