What is Hydrotherapy?

Hydrotherapy is the use of water as an aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of an injured animal. At Meadow Farm we use the Aquatic Treadmill for hydrotherapy treatment. The Aquatic Treadmill is the most flexible water therapy treatment available.

There are many properties of water that make it beneficial as an aid in rehabilitation.

Thermal Properties:

It is crucial that the water used for hydrotherapy is kept at the correct temperature, this prevents the body from cooling on immersion and also prevents over heating during exercise. This thermal effect can warm superficial joints during exercise and maintain circulation, important for both soft tissue injuries and arthritic joints.

Buoyancy: 

This is the upwards thrust of water against the body reducing the effect of gravity

In the Aquatic Treadmill we have the ability to alter the water height to provide varying buoyancy and weight bearing, allowing the limbs to move freely without carrying the full weight of the body, from fully non-weight bearing to full weight bearing.  We can also swim dogs if necessary.

Hydrostatic Pressure: 

This is the pressure exerted on the surface of the body by water at a given depth

Again this is variable in the Aquatic Treadmill as hydrostatic pressure increases with depth, this pressure can be varied and controlled by altering the depth of the water. This is greatly beneficial, when treating animals with reduced balance (neurological conditions) as it helps stabilise the body. Dogs with non related clinical conditions also benefit, such as respiratory and heart conditions where reduced pressure on the chest is preferable. Hydrostatic pressure also reduces an animal’s perception of pain allowing them to perform movements in water that they find difficult on land.

Cohesion: 

This is the tendency of water molecules to adhere together

The cohesive force is greatest at the surface of the water, the force required to break the cohesion leads to increased resistance and surface stimulation this is particularly relevant with the adjustable water level in the Aquatic Treadmill and allows us to increase workload in a specific area/muscle group or joint whilst also protecting a specific area if required (post surgically)

Viscosity: 

This is the measure of frictional resistance due to cohesion

Viscosity and turbulence at the surface of the water play an important part in sensory awareness (via skin receptors), reaction time (due to increased feedback) and stabilisation. This greatly influences proprioception and gait patterning, dogs often don’t benefit from this when fully immersed below the water surface whilst swimming.

Water Height:

In the Aquatic Treadmill as we vary the water height used it will determine the flexion and extension angle of a specific joint, generally flexion is greatest with water at or above the joint of interest and extension is greatest with water below the joint of interest; it is not possible to fluctuate this whilst swimming and a valuable benefit can be lost.

All of these benefits, coupled with the fact that the animal is walking in water plus the varying speed control available to us, means we can influence and improve more effectively;

• core strength, 
• proprioception, 
• gait modification, 
• flexion and extension, 
• muscle bulk, 
• cardiovascular and muscle endurance.

This allows a wider group of dogs to benefit from hydrotherapy treatment including those with:

• Developmental conditions:  Hip and elbow dysplasia /patella luxation/ osteochondrosis
• Degenerative conditions:  Osteoarthritis/DJD /CDRM
• Pre and post surgical cases : Cruciate ligament ruptures and strains/ hip replacement/ excision arthroplasty/ patella surgery/ fracture repair/ amputation
• Neurological conditions: Fibro-cartilginous embolism (FCE)/ Intervertabral disc protrusion/Cervical vertebral malformation/ spinal injury/trauma. The treadmill is designed to allow a therapist to stand within, giving support, whilst facilitating movement in walk and influencing gait changes during the session.
• Clinical conditions that may otherwise exclude an animal from hydrotherapy treatment (heart conditions/epilepsy)

The Aquatic treadmill is particularly suited to treating giant breed dogs, the HP300 is the largest unit available. This is also a very dog friendly piece of equipment having full glass opening doors at either end, allowing dogs to enter and leave without the need to turn round and being low to the ground they can walk in and out with ease. Placed centrally in the room we have full visibility through the glass side panels enhancing gait analysis and treatment and owners can stay close to their dogs during treatments.