4 Ways Aquatic Therapy Can Help Your Child

There are many instances in which you may consider signing your child up for aquatic therapy classes through a clinic like Advanced Physical Therapy. Whether your child suffers from special needs, speech problems or even social anxiety, these are all things that aquatic therapy can help to correct. Here are four ways aquatic therapy can work to help your child:

  1. Gain Better Range of Motion: If your child has suffered from a broken arm or leg, aquatic therapy can help to improve their range of motion. Since the joints are limited in movement after suffering from a broken bone because of swelling and decreased muscle strength, the water used in aquatic therapy can help. The water temperature is significantly warmer than normal swimming pools to help joints become more flexible. This allows your child to get a better sense of how to repair and move their joints once again.
  2. Increase Their Strength: After suffering from any type of illness in which your child has lost a great deal of strength, aquatic therapy can work to slowly improve this strength. Since water creates more resistance than air, it will be more difficult for your child to move their arms and legs in it, which in turn improves strength. The simplest actions in the water will improve strength significantly more than these simple actions would outside of the water. 
  3. Breath Support: If your child suffers from a speech problem, the use of breathing techniques in the water can help, believe it or not. An aquatic therapist will work to correct speech problems by having your child hold his or her breath under the water and also be having them focus on deep breathing while moving their arms up and down through the water. Both of these actions help with breath support for speaking properly. 
  4. Social Interaction: If your child suffers from social anxiety, there are many things that can help, including aquatic therapy. Participating in the activities and working together in the water allows your child to have better social interaction with the other children involved. 

By knowing these four ways that aquatic therapy can help your child, you can be sure that you know when this type of therapy is right for you. There are many different reasons aquatic therapy may be right for your child. Be sure to talk to your child's doctor to determine whether or not this type of therapy is the best option for your child's specific needs. 

Share