aarogya.com
  • Home
  • Complementary Medicine
    • Ayurveda
    • Homeopathy
    • Naturopathy
    • Acupressure
    • Acupuncture
    • Aromatherapy
    • Batch Flower Remedies
    • Home Remedies
    • Massage
    • Yoga
    • Meditation
    • Reiki
    • Bodywork
    • Medical Palmistry
  • Conditions & Diseases
    • Acute Diarrheal Disease
    • Appendicitis
    • Blindness
    • Brucellosis
    • Chicken Pox
    • Conjunctivitis
    • Dysentery
    • Hookworm
    • Japanese Encephalitis
    • Lymphatic Filariasis
    • Plague
    • Rubella
    • Typhoid Fever
    • Yellow Fever
    • Allergy
    • Arthritis
    • Blood Pressure
    • Computer Health Hazards
    • Chikungunya Fever
    • Dengue
    • Guinea Worm
    • Influenza
    • Leprosy
    • Malaria
    • Poliomyelitis
    • Tetanus
    • Whooping Cough
    • Viral Hepatitis
    • Amebiasis
    • Asthma
    • Bronchitis
    • Diagnostic Tests
    • Cholera
    • Diphtheria
    • Hepatitis
    • Irritable Bowel Syndrome
    • Leptospirosis
    • Measles
    • Rabies
    • Tuberculosis
    • Yaws
  • Family Health
    • Children's Health
    • Diet & Nutrition
    • First Aid
    • Fitness
    • Humor & Trivia
    • Men's Health
    • Preventive Health
    • Senior's Health
    • Senior Citizen Corner
    • Teen’s Health
    • Vets and Pets
    • Women’s Health
  • Health Resources
    • Blood Donation
    • Career Opportunities
    • Daily Health Tips
    • Health Programs
    • Featured Hospitals
    • Medical Education
    • Health Professional's Negligence
    • Medical Tourism
    • Video Eye
    • Rural Health
    • Patients' Rights Forum
  • Insurance
    • Euthanasia
    • Health Insurance
    • Health Insurance Policies
    • Insurance Companies
    • Medical Ethics
    • Medical Jurisprudence
    • Research
    • Telemedicine
    • Compare Health Insurance
  • Sex & Sexuality
    • What is Sex & Sexuality?
    • FAQs
    • Marriage & Pregnancy
    • Sex Education
  • Support Groups
    • Addiction
    • Aids
    • Cancer
    • Epilepsy
    • Swine Flu
    • Blood Search
    • Vivah
    • Health Directory
    • Alzheimer's Disease
    • Medical Support Groups
    • Cardiology
    • Depression
    • Depression Screening Test
    • Diabetes
    • Disability
    • Kidney
    • Obesity
    • Pregnancy
    • Schizophrenia
    • Vitiligo
Aarogya.com
Marathi | Gujarati | Register | Login
  • Home
  • Specialties
  • Physiotherapy
  • Electrotherapy

Electrotherapy

  • Print
Details
Hits: 68277
Page 4 of 4
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy in the strictest sense refers to the therapeutic use of water. Pool therapy should be considered for patients with problems arising from muscle weakness, loss of joint mobility, poor coordination or balance, pain or lack of confidence. The particular value of pool therapy over dry–land treatment is derived from buoyancy, which counteracts gravity, provides support and relieves weight–bearing pressure on joints, for example in degenerative conditions. The warmth of the water reduces pain and can relax muscle spasm. The medium enables mobility for patients who may be wheelchair–bound or recovering from prolonged immobilization. Importantly, it also provides for enjoyment, recreation and laughter which are vital aspects or rehabilitation. Physiotherapists should consider pool therapy when treating patients with:

Hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy
Indications
  1. Ankylosing spondylitis.
  2. Osteoarthritis
  3. Rheumatoid arthritis.
  4. Juvenile chronic polyarthritis.
  5. Spondylosis.
  6. Capsulitis.
  7. Mechanical spinal disorders.
  8. Polymyalgia rheumatica.
  9. Major fractures especially of the lower limbs or spine.
  10. Orthopedic surgery.
  11. Neurological disorders such as hemiplegia, paraplegia, tetraplegia, polyneuropathy.
  12. Children derive particular benefit from the freedom of movement afforded by the water.
  13. Pool therapy is also of value for maintaining fitness and relieving backache during pregnancy and after childbirth.
Principles of Hydrotherapy Treatment
Strengthening muscles
Muscles are strengthened by being worked progressively against graded resistance. In the pool, resistance may be from buoyancy, turbulence.

Buoyancy
Movement downwards in the pool are resisted by buoyancy. Floats which may be of different densities may be used to increase the effect of buoyancy.

Turbulence
This is created by movement through water and is increased if the rate of movement is increased. The patient may move as a whole through the water–this is the principle underlying muscle strengthening using Bad Ragaz techniques. Alternatively, the patient may be fixed and move one limb at a time. Walking fast through water is useful for strengthening muscles and for improving cardiovascular fitness.

Joint mobility
Relief of pain and muscle spasm by the warmth of the water and by support from buoyancy can restore free movement of joints. Exercises for gaining mobility are generally slow, taken to the point of limitation, held, carried a bit further and then relaxed. Full–range sweeping movements also gain range (the speed is kept to a minimum so that the muscles are not working against turbulence). Hold–relax and repeated contractions may be used to gain joint movement–generally with the patient in lying (buoyancy supporting) or positioned so that buoyancy may assist in gaining the movement.

Mobilizations–Oscillatory passive movements can be applied to joints to gain range. Fixation is a problem and it may require two physiotherapists, one fixing and one producing the movement, to localize the effect to the joint being treated. Patients report considerable relief from pain following mobilization in the pool.

Coordination and balance
Patients can practice activities in standing, for example stride standing or walk standing , transference of weight, or arm movements. The buoyancy of the water relieves weight, for example 90% relief is obtained if the water is over the shoulders, therefore weight–bearing activities such as walking, stepping up and down, standing up and down can be practiced in the pool before the patient attempts these activities on land. Components of swimming can be practiced, for example the leg patterns of different swimming strokes may be performed while the patient holds the pool rail. Swimming and ball games, Bad Ragaz techniques and the Halliwick principles all help patients to regain coordination. The special value of the Halliwick approach is to teach the patient breathing control and balance in the water, thereby enabling him to the water–confident.

Pain relief
The general freedom of movement in a pool enables tissue fluid to flow through tissue planes, removing metabolites and improving nutrition. These effects, together with a feeling of well–being after physical activity, help to gain permanent reduction of pain. In some pools there is a facility for applying a high–pressure jet of water to a painful area. The patient is standing, sitting or lying and the physiotherapist directs the jet at the area to be treated and moves if either in circles or to and fro for 5–10 minutes. Patients report relief of the aching which is often associated with muscle spasm or tightness in degenerative conditions or chronic injury.

Cooling of the tissues–ice therapy
Ice therapy is the local or general application of cold for therapeutic and preventative uses. When ice is applied to the skin it melts and removes heat from the tissues–the energy required to change its state (the latent heat of fusion). The rate at which cooling occurs depends on the duration of the application, type of tissue (e.g. the thermal conductivity of muscle is greater than that of fat) and the patency of the blood vessels.

Therapeutically, ice can be used to relieve pain and muscle spasm, reduce swelling, reduce spasticity, facilitate muscle contraction, increase muscle endurance, reduce Haematoma formation, prevent pressure sores and promote healing of wounds.

Ice can be applied in towels, as a pack or by immersion in a bath. Damp towels dipped in an ice–and–water mixture, or containing crushed or flaked ice, can be wrapped round painful and swollen joints. Towels are applied longitudinally along muscles to reduce spasm. The towels are changed every few minutes. Ice baths containing 50–60% ice to water are used for painful swollen hands or feet. Spasticity can also be reduced by immersion in a bath.

In ice massage, an ice cube or ice lolly is wrapped a towel at one end and the free end is massaged over the skin. This can act as a counter–irritant if applied for 5–7 minutes to relieve pain and muscle spasm and as a preventative measure to avoid pressure–sore breakdown. This method may be used to facilitate the following:
  1. Muscle contraction, by application over the appropriate dermatome for 3–5s.
  2. Swallowing, by application over the skin just above the suprasternal notch or sipping iced water.
  3. Speech, by application to the lips, tongue and inside of the cheek.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4

0

Physiotherapy

  • Cerebral Palsy (CP)
  • Physiotherapy in ICU
  • FAQs on Physiotherapy
  • Manual Therapy
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation
  • Physiotherapy in Surgical Conditions
  • Physiotherapy for Children
  • Physiotherapy in Obstetrics
  • Physiotherapy in Burns
  • Physiotherapy in Amputations
  • Chest Mobility Exercises
  • Contraindications of Postural Drainage Therapy
  • Postural Drainage
  • Additional means of facilitating a Cough
  • Coughing
  • Pursed Lip Breathing
  • Segmental Breathing
  • Diaphragmatic Breathing
  • Breathing Exercises
  • Electrotherapy
  • Movements
  • Local Relaxation
  • Restful Atmosphere
  • Exercise Therapy - General Relaxation
Introducing Digital Practice for Doctors & Healthcare professionals
Swine Flu
National Award for Outstanding achievement by a Non-Professional - Tushar Sampat
Health Professional's Negligence
Health Professional's Negligence
Records of published articles in the newspapers helps common people about precautions to be taken while seeking the services from health professionals and also helps health professionals to rectify the negligence.
read more…
Specialties
Common Symptoms


Aarogya Network

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties and give useful information on various diseases. To enhance its reach, the content is available in Indian languages too. We were the first health website to introduce online support groups. Addiction support and Epilepsy support are examples of some very active and vibrant communities.

» Click here to see all our support groups

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

 Get health related new information.

Pune Aarogya
Digital Media Dedicated to Healthcare of Punekars

Health Tools

  • Health Directory
  • Message Board
  • Health Calculators
  • Depression Screening Test

About Aarogya.com

aarogya.com aims to be India’s leading comprehensive health information portal. The site has sections, which cover almost all the medical specialties

Read more...

Suggestions

This is YOUR site, so if you have suggestions or feedback on how we can improve it for you, please let us know! We do our best to keep up!

Read more...

User Comments

“My name is Paulette Conners and I just had to send you an email thanking you since one of the pages on your site was very helpful!”

  • About Us
  • Company Profile
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Feedback
  • Disclaimer
  • Sitemap
  • Invite Your Friends

© 2017 www.aarogya.com. All Rights Reserved.