Aquatic Therapy... if you tried this, how did it work for you?
 

Have you tried aquatic therapy? Did you have good results with it? Why or why not did you like it?

Exercising in warm water was extremely helpful for me. I bought a house with a heated pool and put the temp up to over 100 degrees.

I could not bear any weight when I started walking in the hot pool for hours at a time. Eventually( a few months later) I could bear weight on the ground and began to be able to walk again withouth crutches. Without the help of the pool and hot water, I don't think I would have gotten rid of the crutches.
The hot water would ease my pain and make it bearable to walk.

I had previously tried Aquatherapy with a physical therapist but found that I would be worse after the therapy. The exercises they had me doing did not help but hurt my situation.

So, in summary, I have had very good and also very bad experiences with water therapy. doing it myself, in my own back yard seem to work great, but under the care of a therapist - I did not improve but got worse.

That's my 2 cents,
Peace and hope,
Lisa

Just wanted to bump this...

my Dr wants me to try some moving around in a pool soon.

anyone else have thoughts on this?

the big key word is.....
 

WARM water......i was in warm water therapy, but the water was only 80 degrees which for those of us in the pool was way too cold.....many of us dropped out because it was more harm than good....we were freezing, and you can't walk or move around while your lips are purple.........

so make sure the water is nice and warm...........like lisa said, 100 would be great........i too like the jacuzzi ...that is always nice and warm, (103) however, now i can't handle the jets and neither can frank.

Warm water 93 degrees
 

this is my favorite therapy, the water must be at least 93 degrees. you weigh half your weight in water- so it is such a relief to be somewhat weightless . I love it. However use caution- I overdid- and paid dearly with a major 3 day flare up. Like everything else you have to begin slowly. too much can be almost as bad as nothing at all.IF you take it easy you can go more freequently which is the goal. enjoy.

This worked wonders for me. But....BUT...my patch came off and of course with heat you have to be careful and limit the time in hot water. It helped with movement in my arms and hands and eased pains when i used then under water. The physical therapy dept. allowed me to use their pool for $3.00 a day but I had to quit because they had too many others who needed the pool and my insurance only covered so many visits. The solution, join a healthclub...talk about expensive pools. So for now I wait. If you can use it, try....it can't hurt.

I have found water-therapy to be VERY beneficial--like the others have noted, the right temperature is important, and the feeling of "weightlessness" is such a welcome RELIEF from gravity, and holding the arms in a protective position all day. I am fortunate that I have a jaccuzzi-bathtub. I COULD NOT get throughthis RSD without it!!! The warm water helps gets my arms, wrists, and fingers loosened up, and that makes doing exercises a LOT easier. I alos have noticed that it helps somewhat with swelling. Recently, I came across an article that said that the pressure of the water on the body helps with swelling--seems to me that there is something to that!! If you haven't tried water-therapy, I cannot see at all how it could hurt (unless you over-did it), so it really might be worth a try!!! Especially, for those with RSD in their legs or hips!

Brokenwings

Good Stuff!
 

Hubby did water therapy with his leg - worked well for him and same with the hot/tub. It really helped his leg.

He recently started for his arm - too early to tell...but were hoping for the same results. He did have some issues with his arm being really cold after being in the pool. They are getting him some warmed towels or some sort of light-weight wrap to use right after he gets out. Hoping that makes a difference.

To anyone who is not or has not tried pool/water therapy - try it - Almost everything I've heard results wise is to the positive. It's worth the shot! :)

P.S. Some insurance companies will pay for a membership to the Y and some may even pay for a hot-tub for at home use...Check into it if water therapy is something that works for you.

I agree!! Might as well give it a try!

Hi

My husband had great results with water therapy for about a year. Most health club pools in our area are too cold, but we found two hotels that keep the water at around 90.

He uses a noodle - one of those long styrofoam things - under his arms for flotation and did a walking/jogging slowly motion in the pool. It did wonders for his mood and he really felt he was getting stronger and better. Then unfortunately he twisted his knee trying to get into the pool. The pool running now seems to aggravate it, so he just uses his arms.

The hottub has proved mixed too. Some days he tries it and feels better getting out. Other days he gets out and feels much worse. :(

It's definitely worth trying. Hope it helps you.

Teresa - another hubby with rsd