Walking in water

HARLINGEN - When 94-year-old Connie Lopez had a major stroke, some doctors said she might never recover. She became unable to walk, feed herself or tend to the flowers in her yard.

“They were saying that these things just happen … that she couldn’t recover at her age,” said her grandson, Dominic. “But I didn’t think she was where she could be.”

Then a doctor referred Lopez to aquatic therapy. For an hour, three times a week, she works with a physical therapist in a heated pool, doing exercises and moving her limbs. Within a few weeks of starting therapy, Lopez, who also has severe arthritis, started walking with help and working in her garden again, Dominic said.

“I think it’s remarkable,” he said. “I was convinced she wouldn’t ever walk again.”

Aquatic therapy and exercise can increase mobility for patients with arthritis, improve cardiovascular health in people with heart disease and boost quality of life for the elderly, research suggests.

It’s a therapy that older adults should consider more often, said Dr. Charles Mild, Harlingen cardiologist.

“It allows people who have limited mobility to go through their full range of motion, to walk, to jump. It’s highly recommended, particularly in older adults, and it’s good for their heart,” he said.

Mild routinely recommends aquatic exercise for heart-disease patients with limited ability to move.

“I really think exercise therapy is better than many medicine,” he said.

More and more, doctors are recommending aquatic therapy for a variety of conditions, from cerebral palsy — a genetic disorder that affects movement — to osteoporosis. Some research suggests that performing exercises in water can help improve balance and range of motion.

But some of aquatic therapy’s effects might be short-term, according to a few studies.

According to a new review of studies on aquatic therapy, water exercise might only help with pain and mobility for a short period, unless combined with a long-term exercise program. Regular, intense exercise might be required to maintain gains in strength or flexibility, suggests another study.

Still, even patients who participate for a short time in aquatic therapy say they see results, said Brett Tice, Lopez’s physical therapist at Back to Action in Harlingen. The facility has a heated pool that patients say relieves arthritis pain quickly, he said.

“It’s huge with the Winter Texans,” Tice said of the heated pool’s popularity. “They get a lot of relief from arthritis, and say they can exercise without causing themselves pain.”

Tice said that for patients with severe arthritis, exercising in a heated pool “is often the only way they can exercise.”

He’s seen other patients who have suffered from strokes, like Lopez, regain movement and strength through aquatic therapy.

In Lopez’s case, he’s seen steady, slow improvement, he said.

“We don’t usually see miracles … but it just seems like the only thing that works for some people,” Tice said.

People who can’t afford aquatic therapy with a physical therapist can still benefit by exercising in a pool with a qualified aquatics instructor, Mild said.

After seeing Lopez’s gains, her grandson Dominic is a believer in aquatic therapy.

“She’s now doing a lot of things that 70-year-olds can’t do,” he said.

Lopez agreed that the pool has benefited her.

“I think I do a bit better than my age,” she said.

melissam@valleystar.com

Who could benefit from aquatic therapy?

People with the following conditions could perhaps benefit from aquatic exercise, according to the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability:

Limited range of motion

Poor motor coordination

Pain

Balance deficits

Circulatory problems

Depression/low self-esteem

Cardiac diseases

Joint replacement

Orthopedic injuries/trauma

Obesity

Neurological disorders

Osteoporosis

Arthritis

Fibromyalgia