Sandy Physical Therapy and Aquatics

10/05/2021

Why Water Part IV - the respiratory system

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of attention has been focused on the respiratory system. Typically, respiratory therapists are charged with exercises to improve the lungs capacity to take in air and oxygen, but physical therapy is also a partner player in improving the capacity and efficiency of the respiratory system. So what are the effects of water on breathing and why is breathing important aside from sustaining life?

Water immersion to the chest and up to the neck places pressure (that same hydrostatic pressure previously mentioned) on the chest wall challenging the muscles of inspiration, assisting with expiration. It is a very graded way to naturally improve the strength of breathing muscles and the capacity of the lungs to inflate and take in more oxygen from the air. Deep breathing, especially with movement, assists in reducing stress/pain/tension by helping to turn off the prevalence of fight or flight responses in the body! Ai Chi, similar to Tai Chi, but in water, is one of the more effective ways of practicing coordinated breathing and movement to help in many areas of rehab.

09/22/2021

Why Water Part III - the nervous system

Continuing on from part II, hydrostatic pressure leading to improved function and efficiency of the heart also contributes to improved blood flow to the central (brain/spinal cord) nervous system and the peripheral (nerves around and into the rest of the body) nervous system! In addition, warm water has been proven an effective way to reduce the sympathetic nervous system's hold on fight or flight response/anxiety/stress/tension. What does that do for you?

That leads to an increase in relaxation, reduction in pain, improved mood/focus/attention, and even helps to improve sleep patterns - all of which are important components to healing and rehabilitation!

08/31/2021

WHY WATER Part II - The Heart
There is MUCH more to the positive effects of water than just reducing weight and decompression of your joints! There are many physiological changes that occur in the body just by immersing it into water. If the water is warm, many of those effects are enhanced.

Let's consider the heart and its function while the body is immersed in water up to shoulder depth. Because of hydrostatic pressure exerted on the body, venous blood flow is compressed, especially at the legs, which increases the volume of blood in the chest or thorax. That increase in blood volume helps the heart to be more efficient.

In other words the heart will pump out up to nearly 20% more blood in one minute, but do so at a 15% reduced pace or heart rate. -

And that change helps facilitate other changes within several other body systems!

08/31/2021

WHY WATER Part I - Unloading
Ever wonder why water is a great medium for many forms of rehabilitation and therapy? The easy answer is the most commonly known reason - water reduces the weight on your joints! By reducing the compression against a joint, it helps to alleviate pain and moves more freely. The more free movement you have, the happier your joints will be.

08/24/2021

Continuing the post trend on pain science... for those interested or suffering from chronic pain of any kind, consider listening to this presentation, again by Dr. Mosely. This is a long one, so grab some popcorn. If interested in a patient's experience, consider listening to Carol's story at about minute marker 49. The whole session is worth listening to!

https://youtu.be/T6acNUrqVP0

In Sept '19 Flippin' Pain hosted it's 1st event as part of a public health campaign to raise awareness of the problem of persistent pain and bring an underst...

08/18/2021

PAIN - The following video is a nice introduction to the science behind pain. It was recorded about 10 years ago by Lorimer Mosely. Dr Mosely is a physical therapist and pain researcher (one of the most well recognized in the world) from Australia. We will visit his work and presentations frequently to help you understand more about pain - the nervous system's role in it, the rest of the body's response to it, how much control you do or don't have in feeling it, and options to treat it.

https://youtu.be/gwd-wLdIHjs

Why do we hurt?Do we actually experience pain, or is it merely illusion?In this video, Lorimer Moseley explores these questions, and position the pain that w...

08/18/2021

After a loooong social media hiatus, we are back! Look to our page to see updates about our clinic and learn about a variety of symptoms and conditions that are commonly treated by aquatic therapy.

08/18/2021

05/31/2018

"Let food be thy medicine" - Hippocrates
As physical therapists, we prescribe exercise and physical treatment methods as medicine. We are also aware of the role diets play in the general health of all populations. Diet can contribute to healing or do the opposite and contribute to chronic health conditions (obesity, osteoarthritis, chronic inflammation, diabetes) that impair function and movement.
We can play a role in helping you find the right resources to make lifestyle changes including dietary changes to help you improve your body's ability to heal and function.

See this physical therapy blog post below!
https://thrivenowphysio.com/eating-for-recovery/

I have been asked numerous times to give advice on how one should eat for recovery from either an injury or following orthopedic surgery. Physiotherapists are by no means dieticians or nutritionists, but I have a personal and professional interest in nutrition and have researched this topic heavily....

05/24/2018

Did you know?
Water therapy and exercise can help control blood sugar and reduce A1C levels in people with Diabetes. A study published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology in 2012 reported significant reduction in Glysolated Hemoglobin (HbA1c), cholesterol, triglyceride, and insulin as well as significant reductions in body weight, % body fat, blood pressure, and resting heart rate...
This followed 12 weeks of moderately intense water exercises performed 3 times per week for 50 minutes.

Come see us and find out more about how we can help you or someone you know with diabetes fight back and regain control of the many impairments associated with this growing epidemic!

05/16/2018

We have updated our website! You can check it out at sandyaquatics.com.

You will notice a number of changes on the site. Among them we have added a calendar schedule of our group fitness classes with class descriptions. We welcome anyone to try any of our classes anytime! Classes are limited to 10 participants per class. Classes will only be held for a minimum of 3 participants so we ask you to reserve your place for each class online or in clinic. A new option to reserve your place for a class can also be found on our website under health and fitness programming or on the calendar page.

Let us know what you think of the new look!

05/14/2018

We want to take a moment to highlight and express our appreciation to Sherri, our Pilates and Ai Chi class instructor. Not only is Sherri a great instructor, she is a wonderful person and we are very lucky to have her! Thank you Sherri for all your work and dedication and for being an integral part of the health and healing of those you associate with!

05/03/2018

*Important Announcement*

Ai Chi will be taught on Tuesdays at 5:30pm.

Pilates will be taught on Thursday at 5:30pm.

This will be the new schedule until the end of June. If you have any questions call us at 801-568-4203!

04/17/2018

Everyone meet Brady Thorne! He is a full-time student at the University of Utah. He is our Patient Care Coordinator and we are thankful to have him. His favorite part of working here is “I get to see everyone having fun and bettering themselves” and if you know anything about Brady is he likes to have fun!!!

Comment below and ask Brady a question about him or the pool 😃

04/13/2018

Instructing Aquatic PT to University of Utah 1st Year Physical Therapy students