What's New
Accelerated Rehabilitation Class
When: Mondays from 5.00-6.00 pm
Who: Run by Physiotherapist Christian Masson Moyle
Where: Spring Physio Gym Malvern
The premise behind this class is to bridge the gap between acute Physiotherapy treatment and self-management through resistance exercise, stretches and sports specific activities. As Physiotherapists, we find it can be challenging for clients to transition from the close supervision of their therapist to independently completing exercise programs at home or in the gym.
The accelerated rehabilitation class aims to bridge that gap by providing small group classes supervised by a physiotherapist who will monitor technique and form as clients complete their individual program. After six weeks clients will feel confident they are completing their programs correctly and are successfully progressing with their recovery.
This class is appropriate for clients with sporting injuries, post-operative recovery and those wanting to return to independent exercise after injury.
To attend the accelerated rehabilitation class, clients will have an initial assessment and introduction to their exercise program prior to commencing the group session. Programs will run for six weeks to gain the most benefit at which time your Physiotherapist will reassess goals and work with you to formulate the best plan going forward.
Hydrotherapy Classes
We are finally allowed back into public pools! And fewer people are happier about this than Sally, after waiting (semi-)patiently through 6 lockdowns to start building our aquatic physiotherapy service. Sally can be found at the Harold Holt hydrotherapy pool doing one on one rehabilitation with a wide variety of clients. We will also be starting a morning and evening hydrotherapy class.
So Why Water?
Reduced load – buoyancy reduces the weight bearing stress on joints, bones and muscles. You feel lighter in the water. This is fantastic for those with arthritic joints or even for recovery after a fracture when you can’t fully weight bear on the affected limb yet. Those with chronic back pain can also feel more freedom of movement in the water due to reduced load.
Resistance – reduced load from buoyancy doesn’t mean no work - far from it. With a density about 1000x greater than air, moving through water requires muscle effort. Being surrounded by water means that resistance can be applied in all directions and in a variety of ways, depending on the exercise.
Turbulence creates an unstable environment which strengthens core stability and really challenges balance. It can be made easier or harder by changing the turbulence of the waters.
Warm water is relaxing. It can help tight muscles or body parts with increased tension to “let go,” allowing for more freedom of movement.
Hydrostatic Pressure, i.e. pressure exerted on your body by the water surrounding you, can help improve circulation and decrease swelling in extremities.
Balance challenges – exercising on a hard surface can be daunting for those with severe balance difficulties (e.g. advanced Parkinson’s). Once you are in the pool and adequately supported, the worst case scenario of a fall is that you will get wet. This means that you can take bigger steps, experiment with sudden movements and work on balance challenges with far more freedom than in a traditional gym environment.
Water is FUN! There is an element of play in water-based exercise, no matter how seriously we are taking your rehabilitation journey. Play is an essential part of being human and finding meaning in this stressful world we live in.
Contact Spring Physio Gym if you have any enquiries about our aquatic physiotherapy programme. We are currently in discussion with the Harold Holt Centre about a possible aqua group class – if you are interested in this, please get in touch.
Check out Sally's recent blog on Aquatic Exercise https://www.springphysio.com.au/blog/hydrotherapy-with-sally-shannon
Aquatic Physiotherapy – Why Water?I discovered my love of aquatic physio quite by accident – early on in my career, I “inherited” a wonderful class of people who were managing various chronic health conditions with water-based exercise. Over my time there, I saw how beneficial this specific rehab was for... Read more
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