Travel PT professionals: Have you considered aquatic therapy?

While back pain may lead many of us to crack our backs for relief, there are a number of exercises you can use on travel therapy jobs to treat such symptoms. For instance, aquatic therapy has been seen to provide natural relief for those who are experiencing back pain, according to Health magazine.

Supporting evidence
Water therapy may be beneficial to both sedentary individuals as well as pregnant females. On more than one occasion, healthcare staffing professionals have investigated the matter and found positive results. For example, a group of researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland, conducted a systematic review that examined the therapeutic effectiveness of aquatic exercise for low back pain specifically.

Using a variety of databases, the investigators collected information from 37 clinical trials that sought relief for participants suffering low back pain using aquatic therapy, and compared their results to control groups. After reviewing all of the gathered information, the authors of the research concluded that there was sufficient evidence suggesting that water therapy may be beneficial to patients with low back pain. Additionally, women suffering from pregnancy-related discomfort in their lower backs were also found to experience relief.

Another controlled clinical trial worth mentioning is one that was conducted by professionals for the University of Granada, the University of South Carolina and the Federal University of Paraiba. This investigation revolved around the use of intense aquatic therapy for chronic low back pain in 49 sedentary participants.

Following two months of therapy five days per week, the active group saw improvements to their discomfort levels. This amount of exercise is considered high-frequency, and was concluded to be successful in reducing low back pain and disability for the patients, which in effect increased their quality of life. Researchers believe this was due to the exercise's ability to improve body composition for the participants.

Depending on where your travel physical therapy career takes you, you may or may not have access to conduct aquatic exercises with the patients you are treating. However, when this type of therapy is accessible, you may want to consider implementing it into routines for any individuals who are complaining of low back pain. If aquatic exercise is new to you, it's important that you first brush up on some of the most valuable and beneficial techniques.