Aquatic Therapy

Some injuries make land-based exercise painful before it becomes useful. Aquatic therapy solves that problem by moving rehabilitation into water, where buoyancy carries part of your body weight and the joint you are trying to rehabilitate is no longer bearing the full load. Provident Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation offers aquatic therapy at our South Huntington location on Wolf Hill Road.

Rehabilitation on the HydroTrack Underwater Treadmill

Our aquatic therapy is performed on a HydroTrack, an underwater treadmill that lets you walk and build gait mechanics well before your joints could tolerate the same work on land. Water depth controls how much of your body weight the joint carries, so your therapist can dial the load up gradually as you improve rather than jumping from no weight-bearing to full weight-bearing in one step.

That control is the reason aquatic therapy is often used as a bridge. Many patients begin in the water and transition to traditional land-based physical therapy once they can tolerate it, which means recovery starts sooner than it otherwise would.

Who Aquatic Therapy Helps

Aquatic therapy is most useful when weight-bearing exercise is painful, risky, or simply not yet possible. Common reasons patients are referred to the pool include:

• Arthritis and other degenerative joint conditions
• Chronic back and neck pain
• Recovery after hip, knee, or spinal surgery
• Balance deficits and a history of falls
• Neurological conditions affecting gait and coordination
• Deconditioning that makes land-based exercise difficult to start

What the Water Actually Does

Water changes the mechanics of exercise in four ways, and each one has a rehabilitation use:

• Buoyancy offloads the joints, so movement that hurts on land often does not hurt in the pool.
• Hydrostatic pressure acts on the limb from all sides, which helps reduce swelling and gives the nervous system extra feedback about joint position.
• Viscosity provides resistance in every direction, so muscles are strengthened without weights or machines.
• Warmth relaxes guarded muscles and makes stiff joints easier to move through range.

Together, these effects support gains in range of motion, muscle strength and endurance, balance and coordination, and cardiovascular conditioning, while keeping stress on the healing joint low. Our guide to the benefits of aquatic therapy covers these effects in more detail.

What to Expect in a Session

Your therapist evaluates you on land first, then designs a water program around what that evaluation shows. Sessions combine treadmill work with targeted exercise and hands-on manual therapy performed in the water. You are supervised throughout, and no swimming ability is required, since the work is done standing with the water at a controlled depth.

Bring a swimsuit and a towel. Most patients use aquatic therapy alongside a land-based program rather than instead of one, and your therapist will tell you when you are ready to shift the balance toward land.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to know how to swim?

No. Aquatic therapy is performed standing, in water at a depth your therapist controls, with supervision at all times. Swimming is not part of the program.

Is aquatic therapy covered by insurance?

Aquatic therapy is a form of physical therapy and is generally covered on the same terms as land-based treatment. We accept Workers’ Compensation, Medicare, and most major plans, and our office can confirm your specific coverage before you begin.

Which Provident location offers aquatic therapy?

Aquatic therapy is available at our South Huntington office at 275 Wolf Hill Road. Patients from our other locations are often referred there for the water portion of their program.

How soon after surgery can I start?

That depends on your procedure and on your surgeon’s protocol, particularly on when incisions are cleared for water exposure. Aquatic therapy often begins earlier than land-based work, which is one of its main advantages after joint replacement.