Follow us onFacebook
Follow us onTwitter
Follow us onInstagram
Follow us onLinkedIn
Follow us onYoutube
Call us on01527 889810
Emergency & Out of Hours CareCall 01527 889810
5 Kidderminster Road
Bromsgrove
Worcestershire
B61 7JJ
Monday to Friday 8am-7pm
Saturday 9am-5pm
Sunday 9:30-12pm
12 Kidderminster Road
Hagley
Worcestershire
DY9 0QD
Monday to Friday 8am - 7pm
Saturday 9am - 11:30pm
165 New Road
Rubery
Worcestershire
B45 9JW
Mon & Tue 8:30am - 6:30pm
Thu & Fri - Collections Only (No appointments or ops) 8:30am - 6:30pm
Unit 2, Rear of 24-26 Worcester Road Bromsgrove B61 7AE
Mon, Wed & Fri 12noon - 7pm
Tue, Thu & Sat 9am - 3:30pm
Appointments & Advice 01527 889810
Learn how the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool differ and how they can work together for rehabilitation.
All feedback is welcome. Just fill in the form below.
[contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]Canine hydrotherapy is an extremely useful tool in rehabilitation; however, it is important to understand its benefits, in particular how the hydrotherapy pool and the underwater treadmill work, what they achieve, how they can help the canine patient both independently and in conjunction with one another.
Hydrotherapy, as a whole, works to help a variety of conditions including orthopaedic, neurological, and soft tissue injuries. Walking and moving around on land can sometimes be quite painful or strenuous for your dog during their rehabilitation, due to the concussive forces placed through the joints. Hydrotherapy uses water at a therapeutic temperature of approximately 30-32 degrees C. The warmth of the water alongside the weightlessness properties that it offers, allows exercise to be performed comfortably and safely to achieve muscle building, strengthening, and overall improvement in comfort levels.
We also use both the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool for cats that will tolerate water. This can help our feline friends that may be suffering from musculoskeletal injuries or other conditions to exercise in a comfortable, non-weight bearing environment to increase soft tissue flexibility and strength as well as reducing pain.
There are various therapeutic properties of water that work to allow canine hydrotherapy to be as beneficial as it is. Understanding these properties allows for the therapist to appropriately and effectively tailor the session to the needs of the patient for maximum benefit.
The hydrotherapy pool acts as a completely non-weight bearing exercise for your dog. Due to this property, this allows for range of motion to be performed in a comfortable and controlled environment, with no concussive forces going through the limb – which usually occurs on land-based exercise and in the underwater treadmill to a certain extent.
This makes the hydrotherapy pool an extremely useful tool in orthopaedic conditions (such as hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, and osteoarthritis). The buoyancy of the water creates a completely weightless environment that alleviates pressure on the joints to allow for optimum function and strength to be restored. Compared to land-based exercise, the hydrotherapy pool can be utilised to ensure full range of motion is achieved in a comfortable and controlled manner.
When implemented into a rehabilitation programme, the hydrotherapy pool is often chosen to improve and encourage active range of motion, providing an environment that is completely weightless to allow for comfortable movement whilst also targeting cardiovascular fitness.
Compared to the hydrotherapy pool, the underwater treadmill provides a low weight bearing environment, which can be altered by the therapist. The concussive forces created through moving on the treadmill belt alongside the resistance of the water makes this a very useful rehabilitation tool, that is more comfortable than land-based exercises due to the water properties reducing the pressure on the joints.
The underwater treadmill provides a more controlled environment in which the therapist can alter the speed, duration, incline, and water level to target different areas. When implemented into a rehabilitation programme, this is chosen to build and increase muscle mass, encourage gait re-education and proprioception. This is often used in cases such as soft tissue injuries, neurological conditions, and post-surgery to promote early muscle building and gait re-education.
We often use both the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool in conjunction with one another to target different things throughout the rehabilitation plan, as we find that a multimodal approach can be particularly beneficial. One case that has proven that is Freckles, read more about this below.
One case that has proven how effective a multimodal approach to rehabilitation is Freckles the German short-haired pointer.
Freckles was originally referred to Clent Hills Pet Fitness and Rehabilitation Centre with a persistent right forelimb lameness – suspected to be a soft tissue injury as x-ray imaging highlighted no current orthopaedic conditions to be causing the lameness.
Freckles presented as 4/10 lame in walk meaning she had an obvious limp on her right forelimb during movement, observed through a head nod and not placing full weight through this limb. She also showed pain during manipulation of the right shoulder joint.
She was struggling to exercise for long periods of time, and had significantly lost muscle mass in her right forelimb. Following her physiotherapy initial assessment and some laser therapy, she began hydrotherapy.
This started with the underwater treadmill mainly to promote muscle building and gait re-education due to compensatory walking for a few months. Following a few weeks of 2 x weekly underwater treadmill exercise, she then began to alternate between the underwater treadmill and hydrotherapy pool.
The pool was introduced to promote a more active range of motion in a weightless environment once her strength had improved. Following physiotherapy reviews throughout her process, Freckles now comes to the centre every other week for hydrotherapy. She is no longer lame, can exercise for at least an hour a day, and now has even muscle measurements in both of her forelimbs. Freckles’ recovery really highlights the benefits of hydrotherapy as a multimodal approach.
Read what Freckles’ owners had to say in our case study:
Freckles the dog uses hydrotherapy pool and treadmill to beat lameness
