Back pain is one of the most common issues people in this country experience. This is supported by data gathered by national organizations like the American Chiropractic Association. This organization estimates that about 80% of the U.S. population will experience some type of back pain in their lifetime. Aquatic physical therapy is one tool that physical therapists can use to help people treat their back pain. The reason they use this technique is that it offers several benefits to people with this type of pain.
1. Spinal decompression
One common cause of back pain is pinched nerves. This issue happens when the spaces between vertebrae get smaller. For instance, an injured disc can be squeezed by the normal force gravity places on the spine. This can bring the vertebrae closer together and pinch a nerve.
Aquatic physical therapy near you takes place in water, and this allows it to benefit people with back pain by helping reduce pressure on the spine. You see, water has a quality called buoyancy, and this helps reduce the force of gravity on the spine. This means that getting into an aquatic therapy pool can decrease the pressure on the spine. Decreases in pressure can help vertebrae return to their normal position. In turn, this can stop them from pinching spinal nerves and reduce your pain.
2. Helps strengthen spine-supporting muscles
Aquatic physical therapy near you can also help your back by increasing the effectiveness of strengthening exercises. Your spine is supported by many muscles, but these muscles can become weak or tense because of injuries or overuse.
To help strengthen and relax the back muscles, therapists will often have you perform strengthening and stretching exercises in a warm pool. This aquatic therapy takes advantage of the natural resistance that water provides. This resistance can help you do exercises that would require weights on land. Without the weights, you’ll be putting less stress on the muscles, but the resistance of the water will help strengthen them. By doing so, this technique can help improve your spinal alignment and flexibility, and this can go a long way toward decreasing your pain.
Peak Performance offers high-quality aquatic physical therapy to North Carolina residents
With clinics in New Bern, Winterville, Swansboro and Jacksonville, North Carolina, Peak Performance is able to offer aquatic physical therapy and other techniques to people with back pain. Your therapy with us will begin with a one-on-one free screening. This step will help us find out what the root cause of your back pain is. Once we understand the cause of your pain, we’ll build you a personalized therapy plan to help treat it, and your plan will include multiple therapy methods such as:
- Aquatic therapy
- Manual therapy
- Anodyne® treatments
- Therapeutic exercise
Contact us today for more information or to schedule an initial appointment to begin treating your back pain.
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