Hydrotherapy can reduce your pain and help you regain your mobility. It is a gentler form of exercise –  can be said to be a middle ground to keep you active when your joints are not ready to take a full body load. Supervised hydrotherapy sessions with physiotherapists or exercise physiologists are highly beneficial, whether you are recovering from surgery or dealing with chronic pain from osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

I completely understand how depleting it can feel when you are in pain and can’t do day-to-day tasks as usual. Whether it is your lower back, hip, knee, or ankle stopping you from walking around a block, hydrotherapy can be your go-to place to progress your rehab and build your capacity, eventually moving towards land-based exercises. 

What is Hydrotherapy/Aquatic Therapy?

Hydrotherapy is an age-old therapeutic method that has garnered significant acclaim for its tremendous advantages in improving the effectiveness of physiotherapy. By combining the calming effects of water with targeted exercises and therapies, hydrotherapy offers a distinct and effective approach to treating various physical ailments.

As most of you know, it’s a form of physiotherapy where warm water can be used to either support your joints or create gentle resistance so you can move again. The hydrotherapy pools usually keep water temperature between 33 and 36 degrees, which feels amazing on achy muscles. Most of the setups offering hydrotherapy have ramp access with railing to help you get in, or sometimes there can be seated hydraulic lifts as well. There, you’ve got a trained therapist with you, showing you specific movements that you’d struggle to perform standing on the ground. 

Why Water Works So Well- Let’s Understand the Science Behind It

Water has multimodal benefits as mentioned below. Your therapist can use various properties of water to offload or overload your muscles and joints.

So let’s dive deep to understand it further :

Buoyancy Effect: It’s an upward force exerted by water to offload your body’s weight, thereby decreasing the stress on joints. It helps to reduce the effect of gravity, and you feel way lighter when working out in water. 

You know that feeling when you’re carrying heavy shopping bags and someone takes them from you? That’s what buoyancy does for your joints. Suddenly, moving doesn’t hurt as much.

Hydrostatic Pressure: The deeper you are in water, the lighter your body feels. Your blood flows better, swelling goes down, and your joints feel more supported. Patients regularly tell their therapists their knees feel “held together” in the water.

Warmth: And the warmth – well, that’s just pure relief. Your muscles relax, your circulation improves, and your body actually produces fewer pain signals. Your muscles and joints have improved flexibility, thereby more movement or joint range.

I would say a hydrotherapy session is an art that your physiotherapist or exercise physiologist has learned to create specific exercise programs based on your personal needs, using different properties of water to your favor. 

Hydrotherapy – Procure Physio Way

At Procure Physio, we provide both one-on-one sessions and small group sessions for adults who are navigating chronic pain resulting in poor mobility, have a disability, or are in pre- or post-surgery rehab. Sessions are conducted by qualified physiotherapists in covered and heated local council pools—Parramatta Physiotherapy/Hydrotherapy or Blacktown Physiotherapy/Hydrotherapy. These pools are accessible, welcoming, and suitable for year-round therapy.

These hydrotherapy sessions are highly suitable for our community looking for physiotherapy and hydrotherapy across Blacktown, Seven Hills, Parramatta, Westmead, Wentworthville, Quakers Hills, Girraween, or nearby suburbs, providing support for:

• Arthritis
• Chronic pain (including  fibromyalgia)
• Back pain
• Sports injuries
• Neurological conditions (Parkinson’s, stroke rehab )
• Pre- and Post-operative rehab (total knee replacements, total hip replacements, spinal or back surgery) — once medically cleared, continent, and able to safely enter and exit the pool using a ramp 

Being an NDIS-registered provider, we can discuss with your support coordinator the options of hydrotherapy sessions under NDIS if you have physiotherapy covered under NDIS.

Why Should You Consider Hydrotherapy? 

Getting around better and feeling confident again: It can be a pathway to build your confidence by gradually building your strength and regaining your movement to start moving to the gym or land-based exercises. It can be a bridge between being incapable of doing any form of exercise and reconditioning to hit the ground most safely.

Pain gets better without taking pills: You don’t need more medication – just the warm water and moving around make you feel better.

Feeling better emotionally: Any kind of movement is better than no movement, and any form of exercise is better than immobility. Research strongly supports that the earlier you move after surgery, the better the healing and the shorter the recovery time. It helps you improve your confidence, and you feel strong emotionally, being independent and maintaining day-to-day functions.

 Faster recovery after surgery: Since you can start moving around safely in the water way before you could walk around normally, you heal up much quicker.

How Sessions Work

Every hydrotherapy journey at Procure Physio begins with a full assessment. We listen to your story, understand your goals, and plan sessions that are right for you.

You’ll always be guided by a physiotherapist in the water — never left alone. Your physiotherapist will assist you in getting in and out of the water while using the ramp. Your exercises will be closely monitored and progressed. As you get stronger, you will be challenged enough with different props, including noodles, weights, and boards, to prepare you well before you move to land-based exercises or, in parallel, to focus on building strength for activities you are struggling with on land.

When you are ready and have developed independence, there can be an option to move you to a group session if it is safe enough to do exercises with minimal supervision.

Here at Procure Physio, we’ll make sure you feel safe and supported, and we’ll adjust everything to fit exactly what you need. Maybe you’re recovering from surgery, dealing with pain that just won’t quit, or living with a disability – hydrotherapy could be the answer you’ve been searching for.

Call Procure Physio today to ask about availability and to book your first hydrotherapy session in a local heated pool.