Hydrotherapy Essay Sample

Aquatic therapies or known as hydrotherapy. This form of physical therapy uses water for the treatment of different conditions. Those conditions include post-operative recovery from orthopedic procedures, neurological conditions, animals suffering from osteoarthritis, hip dysplasia, metabolic conditions, paralyzed animals, and helping with overweight pets.

This therapy is a low-impact therapy that helps improve the animal's strength, range of motion, and endurance. The properties of the water minimizes stress on the joints, which helps prevent tissue injuries, inflammation, and pain.

Hydrotherapy was developed in Germany and then came to the U.S. in the late 1880s to treat the common cold or chronic illness. It involved immersing parts of the body in a full tub of cold water for long periods. The belief was that cold water drew blood from the diseased body parts and effected a cure. Although, hydrotherapy has been used way before then. The ancient Greeks and Romans were known to take baths with essential oil blends to treat ailments.

The benefits of this alternative therapy are the warming effect of water, pain reduction, heat dissipation, improve circulation, and increased metabolism. However, it also utilizes buoyancy, resistance, viscosity, and hydrostatic pressure of water to help the animal work painful joints or limbs. Changing the water level for the animal they can swim weightlessly causing zero impact on the animal, however, the change in water level can help them swim weightlessly when their feet touch, so they can gently run without stress on their limbs. There are different types of hydrotherapy depending on the animal requirements. The pool helps circulate the flow of blood to the muscles and reduces pain and stiffness. The building of muscle mass is the main benefit of swimming.  The aquatic treadmill is more controllable where you can adjust the water level and time on it. 

The requirements to become an animal hydrotherapist you need to be fond of animals and comfortable working with them.  An animal hydrotherapist requires a certain level of physical fitness and ability. You also need to be comfortable working in awkward positions and know how to restrain animals. However, you need to know how to swim since you are working in water occasionally, and you need to be observant and in tune with the movement of the animal. You also need good communication skills, but besides being physical you need to know the animal anatomy and science behind the treatment.