Aquatic Therapy Flashcards
How does max oxygen uptake in water compare to land based therapy?
Maximal Oxygen Uptake is Lower
What Vital Capacity make a patient unable to participate in aquatic therapy?
Vital Capacity < 1 L
What is Buoyancy?
Upward force that works opposite of gravity.
What is Archimedes Principle?
An immersed body experiences an upward thrust equal to the volume of liquid displaced.
Benefits to Buoyancy?
- Provides relative weightlessness
- Joint Unloading
- Provides resistance to movement
What is Hydrostatic Pressure?
Pressure exerted by water on immersed objects
Benefits of Hydrostatic Pressure?
- Reduces or limits effusion
- Assists with venous return
- Induces bradycardia
What is Viscosity?
Resistance to Flow.
Resistance is proportional to the velocity of movement through liquid.
How to make a movement harder with properties of viscosity?
- Increase velocity of movement
- Increase the surface area of moving object
How does temperature conduction through water compare to air?
Water conducts temperature 25x faster than air.
Heat transfer and its relation to velocity?
Heat transfer increases with velocity.
- Patient moving through water loses body temperature faster than a patient at rest
What is the Center of Buoyancy?
Reference point of an immersed object on which buoyant (vertical) forces predictably act
How does a posterior placed or an anteriorly placed buoyancy device affect patients lean in the water
Posterior Placed = Patient Lean Forward
Anterior Placed = Patient Lean Back
What temperature is recommended for patients with RA?
Higher Temperatures; 36 - 37 C
(Except for the Acute Stage)
What temperature is recommended for patients with Spasticity?
Lower Temperatures; 26 - 35 C
