OrthoCarolina Partners with HydroWorx Once Again to Offer Patients and Community Advanced Aquatic Therapy Options
Middletown, PA (PRWEB) April 16, 2014 -- At OrthoCarolina, aquatic therapy has become such a driving force that they sometimes have difficulty getting every patient in their pool. Unlike a traditional pool found at a health club, their particular unit is specially equipped with an underwater treadmill, massage hose capabilities, resistance therapy jets and underwater video. These advanced technologies allow their physical therapists and specialists to provide innovative healing, which was becoming somewhat of a double-edged sword before the company decided to invest in a second HydroWorx therapy pool which they installed at one of their facilities several miles away.
“We’ve had so much success, but it can be difficult to keep up with the demand,” admits Cheryl Bennett, PTA. “Having another therapy pool allows us to offer more for patients who want and need aquatic therapy. That’s a huge group, too; so many people need this kind of avenue to transition safely to land-based physical therapies. Without aquatic therapy, many patients would fall off the schedule or have tremendous difficulty getting over the initial ‘hump’ of therapy. With the pool, we can get them headed in the right direction from day one.”
Their second therapy pool is located at the north end of their city, a more convenient drive for former and current OrthoCarolina patients who do not wish to navigate significant traffic to enjoy their aquatic therapy and exercises. In the past, some OrthoCarolina patients tried to continue their progress in the pool at local gyms, but those pools’ cooler temperatures and more generalized programs led them to become frustrated with the experience. Having a warm-water HydroWorx pool located closer to their homes now enables them to enjoy all that aquatics has to offer.
Aquatic therapy isn’t new in terms of humankind. Civilizations around the globe have turned to the healing powers of water for millennia, from the public baths of Rome to the hot spring spas across northern Europe. However, with equipment like the HydroWorx pools, the natural properties of water such as buoyancy and hydrostatic pressure can be even more precisely and deliberately harnessed. This is a boon for those with foot and ankle problems, chronic pain, back problems, arthritis, MS and more.
Fitness advocates like Dr. Robert McBride, who practices with OrthoCarolina, appreciate being able to get patients on a fast-track aquatic therapy program very soon, even days after surgery. Whereas patients in similar situations would be forced to wait until they could comfortably handle land-based physical therapy, they are now able to reap the advantages because in the pool, their weight is countered by up to 80 percent.
Duane Albers, PT, Director of Physical and Hand Therapy, OrthoCarolina notes, “The pool continues to be very successful for our patient population and for many of our patients. It allows us to initiate therapy earlier following their injury which in turn helps to regain function sooner and pose less long term complications. Additionally, for those patients who are limited in WB or who may be challenged by land based exercises it allows us to make functional progressions in the pool to carry over to a land based program. The decision to add a second pool was highly supported by our physician leadership in order to provide a high level of care in multiple locations to meet the growing needs and convenience of our patients.”
The new therapy pool is much like the first that OrthoCarolina purchased from HydoWorx. Located on the first floor of the north end facility, it has become a veritable magnet for those seeking the proven benefits of regular aquatics. Its success is definitely in the numbers: Between its inception in November 2013 and March 2014, its use time by patients suffering from foot and ankle, low back pain, hip pain and knee pain has quadrupled and continues to grow.
Because OrthoCarolina is an official partner of University of North Carolina at Charlotte, their personnel see many UNCC students who require aquatic therapy. Yet their options span a wide range of ages and abilities. Explains Elizabeth Nichols, PT, ATC, “The programs are based upon each patient: what they did before, what their expectations are, etc. We have an adult population that ranges from 25 to 91 years old! One patient had pain in her left hip. She’s been going to the gym as part of the Silver Sneakers program, but her gym doesn’t have a pool. We’re now transitioning her to a pool program and she loves it. She was so shocked after the first two visits to OrthoCarolina that she didn’t have hip pain following her pool therapy!”
OrthoCarolina’s pools are not open to the general public at this point. Nonetheless, those in the Charlotte, North Carolina area who require physical therapy are encouraged to discuss the advantages of aquatic therapy treatments with their referring physicians.
About OrthoCarolina
As one of the nation’s leading orthopedic practices, OrthoCarolina is your destination for comprehensive orthopedic care. Since 1922 we’ve offered a continuum of care for patients across the Southeast. Our dedication to training and research coupled with our expertise in foot and ankle, hip and knee, shoulder and elbow, spine, sports medicine and pediatrics allow for the high quality care patients expect. Orthocarolina intends to build on the previous established relationship between Novant Health and Cleveland Clinic for our patients here in Charlotte.
OrthoCarolina. You. Improved.
Connect with OrthoCarolina at http://www.orthocarolina.com or on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
About HydroWorx
HydroWorx, based in Middletown, Pennsylvania, offers a wide range of underwater treadmill therapy pools, and peripheral products and services. Every day, more than 23,000 athletes and patients use HydroWorx technology to recover from injuries and health conditions.
More information about HydroWorx’s upcoming webinars, as well as archived webcasts from previous events, can be found by visiting http://www.hydroworx.com/events.
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Nicole Biesecker, HydroWorx, http://www.hydroworx.com, +1 (800) 753-9633, [email protected]
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