Been awhile!! Been busy! Originally my blog was intended to be "off topic" from rehab...topics. A place of respite and venting. But b/c I have so many pages and not enough bandwidth to complete my "photos" page, and the fact that I've been encouraged to give my "thoughts" on rehab-related information, I've taken to posting HERE:

Extracted from PT Magazine, of Physical Therapy, "Exercises in Warm Water Help Relieve Osteoarthritis Pain", Vol 16, No 1, January 2008

...studies included included patients with osteoarthritis of either the knee or hip, one study followed patients with only hip arthritis, and one included patients with only knee arthritis. In the studies, some patients did aquatic exercises for different lengths of time and numbers of sessions per week, while other patients did no exercise or exercised on land. Most of the studies measured patients after 3 months of therapy...pain may decrease by 1 or more point on a scale of 0-20 with aquatic exercise and function may improve by 3 or more points on a scale of 0 to 68. The review noted there is a "lack of high-quality studies in this area."

There is a lack of research re: aquatic therapy in general (humans & animals), I agree. So then, why is it wildly popular? Is it simply based on some great marketing on behalf of aquatic companies? Thoughts? By far it is the number one "emailed" request of animalrehabilitation.com; that is people saying they want aquatic rehab for dogs because they "heard" about it from their vet or the internet.

Is a 3-4% improvement in you or your animals pain and function worth spending 3 months in multiple weekly sessions? Thoughts?

I think aquatic therapy has its place but not to the exclusion of other types of techniques. Warmth in general is beneficial to arthritic conditions--which keep in mind, we're not discussing post-surgical issues which bring other considerations in mind.

Arthritic management is life-long management. Going for 3 months and then stopping, will most likely result in a loss of those small percentage gains that you, or your animal, may have achieved.

Be realistic. Pick something that you can continue with longterm and makes sense. If you access to a year-round heated pool at the YMCA and love swimming-Do it! If you have a lab that is used to swimming, and you live by a lake-Okay. But, we have yet to find THE holy grail and be all-end all.

I have been reading more material on this subject and as I come across it, I will find time to post.