Over 50? Keeping Up With Your Healthcare Needs

3 Benefits Of Aquatic Physical Therapy For People With Lyme Disease

11 February 2016

Nellie Ryan

Getting diagnosed with Lyme disease means that you will deal with a variety of symptoms, especially during the early onset of the disease. Adding physical therapy sessions into your routine can help you get through the pain. In contrast to traditional physical therapy, which is usually administered in an office, aquatic physical therapy is administered in a pool. For people with Lyme disease, there are three main benefits to choosing aquatic therapy over traditional therapy.

Joint Pain Relief

One of the main symptoms associated with Lyme disease is joint pain. This occurs mainly in your knees and can affect your ability to walk properly. Instead of struggling through joint pain movements during physical therapy, you can move a lot easier through the water. When your body moves more smoothly in the water, you can complete more exercises and gain flexibility in your joints.

To start out, your physical therapist may simply have you walk back and forth in the shallow end of the pool. As you advance through courses, you will expand to full swimming and more advanced methods like pushing off the wall.

Muscle Pain Relief

A common Lyme disease symptom associated with joint pain is muscle pain. Unlike joint pain, muscle pains can expand over your whole body and cause limitations in your movements and flexibility. Swimming and doing pool exercises is a great way to relax your muscles, build extra strength, and regain movement while going through the water.

Along with movements and exercises, your physical therapist may have you lay back and complete a number of floating techniques on the water. Floating on the water allows you to spread out your muscles without putting too much pressure on them.

Help with Fatigue

Lyme disease may often feel like a constant battle with fatigue. Instead of laying in bed all day, you can help combat the fatigue with therapy in a swimming pool. Not only can pool water help shock your body awake, but the shower after swimming can help re-energize your body as well. Taking a cold shower for five minutes or longer is a great way to increase blood flow and minimize the fatigue that is caused by your Lyme disease. Taking aquatic physical therapy in the morning is a great way to start your day and give you energy until it's time to go asleep at night. Your physical therapist may also have some pool exercises that can help you get extra energy and keep your blood flowing properly.

Consult with your doctor about getting aquatic physical therapy for your Lyme disease. Consider a company like Advanced Physical Therapy.

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