What is hydrotherapy?
“Hydrotherapy is derived from the Greek word meaning water healing and is a form of exercise carried out in a specially heated and sanitized pool. The water is approximately 34 degrees Celsius. The encompassing warmth of the water will relax muscles by initiating expansion of surface blood vessels and increasing skin temperature which can bring about a decrease in pain and muscle spasm.
A decreased range of motion can often be due to pain, swelling or stiffness. Stiffness can be eased as the warmth of the water causes blood vessels to expand.
Hydrostatic pressure applied by the water can assist in reducing swelling by causing a bodily fluid movement away from the affected area instead of to it. This is increased with exercising the limb to enhance the circulation.
The combination of extra heat and the buoyancy of the water provide a relaxing medium in which pain relieving exercises can be carried out and thus improve general fitness levels. “
Many people with conditions such as arthritis, muscular dystrophy, MS, cerebral palsy, autism all benefit from Hydrotherapy. The heated pool can be used by people with physical or mental difficulties to exercise and improve their quality of life. Even if not exercising in the pool our guests use the pool just to relax and they thoroughly enjoy it.
Benefits of Hydrotherapy
The therapeutic benefits of immersion in a heated pool include:
- Improving and maintaining the range of joint movement
- Helping muscles to relax
- Helping to relieve pain
- Reducing pressure on weight bearing joints while exercising
- Facilitating rehabilitation
Snoozeleum
This room is important for the service and is built into the original design of the building so that guests can have a peaceful, stimulating and relaxing room for their personal use.
These rooms are quite expensive to set up and this applies to redevelopment and refurbishment also. We think the room, although still functional and well used, is in need of some TLC although to date it has not been a priority for attention.
We hope to address some of the issues in the room during the course of the next year or so if not embark on a whole redesign and refit. We could only do the latter if we identified specific additional funding.
