By: Heather Stringer
Source: Today in OT.com
Imagine aquatic therapy before the pool noodle had been invented. It was the late 1990s and little was available specifically for rehabilitation in the water, so physical therapists used what they could — kickboards and sometimes even empty milk jugs as buoys for exercises.
“Things were so basic in the beginning, and in the last seven or eight years aquatic therapy has really blossomed,” said Ruth Sova, MS, president of the Aquatic Therapy & Research Institute in Lutz, Fla. “Therapists are seeing that people heal faster when they use aquatic therapy.”
As word has spread about the benefits of water therapy, the number of tools available to has increased dramatically, Sova said. Several years ago, therapists often had one collar or float belt they used for all of their patients, but now companies offer a variety of sizes and types of each product, allowing therapists to better tailor therapy based on a patient’s size, strength and specific condition.
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