Introduction
Physiotherapists may use hydrotherapy as part of a treatment programme, to treat a variety of symptoms and conditions.
What are the benefits of hydrotherapy?
Research studies have shown that hydrotherapy is effective for certain conditions.
Heat, can help with pain, improve circulation, loosen tight muscles and encourages relaxation.
Buoyancy, can support your body weight, relieving pain and increase joint range of movement.
Turbulence, can be used to increase resistance and challenge your balance.
Wellbeing, there is an interaction between physical activity and wellbeing, the release of endorphins from the pituitary gland produce psychological improvement.
These properties of hydrotherapy often allow you to complete exercise in water which you may normally find difficult and painful on land.
On the day
Please arrive at the hydrotherapy pool at least 10 minutes prior to your appointment.
Please bring any fast acting medications you normally take. To use the pool you will need appropriate swim wear and towel. There are accessible changing facilities. You will complete a session in the pool which will last between 20-30 minutes.
It is typical that the warmth of the water and exercise may cause you to become tired and dehydrated. It is important that you drink plenty of water. You must let your physiotherapist know if you feel unwell during this time.
It is important to attend all the sessions offered to gain maximum benefit. If a child is not brought to two consecutive sessions without notification or poor attendance, this may result in the treatment to end and as per the trusts policy, a Cause for Concern to the Trust’s Safeguarding Children Policy will be completed.
Precautions
In order to maintain a clean, safe and hygienic environment for patients and staff, we ask patient, carer or guardian to comply with the following and avoid attendance if there is:
- Open, infected wounds
- Acute vomiting in the last 24 hours
- Acute diarrhoea in the last 48 hours
- Resting angina
- Medical instability following an acute episode
Patient Engagement
We are always looking to improve our services. Your feedback allows us to monitor the quality of our services and act upon any issues that you bring to our attention.
Please scan and complete the following questionnaires prior and post to the session to allow us to accommodate the session to your child’s needs.
Contact Information
If you need to cancel your hydrotherapy session, please contact the physiotherapy department as soon as possible.
If there are any concerns regarding the pool temperature or water quality, it may be necessary to cancel your session at short notice to ensure safety for our patients. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. Please ensure the contact number we have for you is up to date.
Cancelled appointments cannot be replaced with another one, therefore that session will be lost. You will still be able to attend subsequent sessions.
Paediatric Community Physiotherapy
Bensham Community Hospital
Fontwell Drive
Gateshead
NE8 4YL
