Aquatic Therapy
Tim Dropinski hurt his back in 1997. Since then he's tried everything from pills to therapy to ease the pain. Then his doctor suggested aquatic therapy - kind of like water aerobics in one of Alegent Health's 3 pools for therapy. Guess what. It's working.
"I'm better than what I was. I'm not taking the meds like I was. I'm walking up straight," said Tim Dropinski.
Dr. Christopher Anderson prescribed water therapy when the traditional land based workout became too painful for Tim. He says bed rest is not the answer for people with back pain, movement is. And aquatic therapy can help.
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Find out more about Christopher Anderson,M.D.
"We are taking advantage of the buoyancy of the water, the graded resistance of the water, the heat of the water, to allow those muscles to relax and to keep that patient comfortable. This allows them to do the exercises that they need to do to get moving and to get better," said Anderson. |
Tim's been at this a
month now with Physical Therapist Sarah Frost. He's strengthening and stretching
his muscles. He's also getting his heart going.
"We're able to really advance his exercises to a higher level including water jogging and fast paced back strengthening exercises," said Sarah Frost.
Dr. Anderson says that depending on the type of back pain, people like Tim will never be pain free, but he will be able to manage his pain. Aquatic therapy is one way to getting there.
