Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy can help a range of conditions, for example following surgery or fracture (once your wounds are healed) or with injuries or presentations that make it difficult to move well on dry land due to pain, weakness or restricted movement. These could include neurological conditions (such as stroke or brain injury) or injuries including spinal and upper and lower limb injuries.

Sessions with a clinician present vary from £91 to £113 depending on the length of the session. Similarly, self-supervised sessions vary from £16 to £22.50 per session, again depending on the length of the session.

Pro’s

• The buoyancy in the water helps to reduce stress on joints and soft tissue while exercising, making it easier for those in pain to move better. This means that people can often exercise for longer in the water than they can on dry land.
• Water also creates resistance to movement, meaning that it can help with getting stronger without the need for weights or resistance bands. Combining the buoyancy with the resistance that the water provides can allow for more comfortable exercise than on dry land.
• The water provides hydrostatic pressure, which can help to reduce inflammation and also helps in improving joint and muscle position sense, which is often disturbed after an injury or surgery
• Warmth- the warmth in the water helps to reduce pain levels, relax muscles and increase blood flow to injured tissues, which can promote healing.

Con’s

• Some people with more sensitive skin will not tolerate the chemicals in the water as well as others. The hydrotherapy pool at TPC makes use of a UV light system, which reduces the amount of chemicals needed to maintain the water.
• Risk of drowning
• Some people can feel very fatigued after being in the water

Although you do not have to pay for hydrotherapy on the NHS, there is a limit as to how many sessions the NHS can provide (often a 6 session limit). Often patients need more than this, especially if they start out with a lot of pain, restricted movement and weakness or if they have a long term condition that they need to manage.

If you have any of the following conditions

• Unstable cardiac condition- especially left ventricular failure 
• Recent medical instability after acute episode without medical clearance (MI, CVA, DVT, PE, Status Asthmaticus)
• Unstable angina
• Renal compromise 
• Uncontrolled blood pressure (high or low)
• Seizures / poorly controlled epilepsy 
• Loss of consciousness / blackouts 
• Uncontrolled diabetes 
• Open wounds 
• Infectious conditions eg MRSA 
• Systemic illness with raised temperature 
• Chlorine allergy 
• Fear of water 

Initially you would need a physiotherapist with you, to make sure you are able to use the pool and pool area safely and also to ensure you are doing appropriate exercises and can perform them effectively. Once the physiotherapist is happy with these, you may be able to use the pool independently.

No, hydrotherapy rarely involves swimming.  It’s more doing exercises and specific techniques in the pool to work on strength, joint mobilisation, pain relief, relaxation, proprioception and balance working with the properties of the warm water to adjust the level of difficulty of the exercises to suit you and your condition.