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AQUATIC THERAPY
Southwest Therapy Specialists' is one of only a few outpatient therapy facilities in the Valley of the Sun to offer Aquatic Therapy with the licensed therapist in the water working with you. This creates a stress free, quiet, relaxing environment aimed at helping you workout in ways prevented by traditional gravity land-based therapy.
Aquatic Therapy Aquatic Rehabilitation Aqua Therapy Pool Therapy Water Therapy
An Aquatic Therapy business cannot have a kinesiotherapist, or massage therapist, or an athletic trainer, or a clinical exercise physiologist billing for "Aquatic Therapy" using the CPT codes and charging your insurance plan. And certainly not an Aide or Tech or nonlicensed support personnel running the program without the licensed therapist present! This is not your fitness club or water aerobics class. This is the 'real deal'. Insist on the best teaching of water helping your issues and do not be conned. |
Ever shiver and get chilled in the pool? Experience fear of falling while walking? Then avoid muscle spasms and any risk of falling while working out in Southwest Therapy Specialists' Aquatic Therapy. With a temperature of 94-96 degree F, our licensed Physical Therapist or Occupational Therapist guides the individualized program. Need to: improve balance? Reduce back pain or osteoarthritis pain? Decrease Herniated Disk pain? Improve flexibility? Increase leg or abdominal strength? Improve range of motion of a Total Knee or Total Hip Replacement? Improve Core Stability? Let SWTS' Aquatic Therapy program help achieve individualized goals. Ask the physician for a prescription for Southwest Therapy Specialists' Aquatic Therapy..."And the water is divine!"-(patient's first visit)
Ask your physician for a referral for Aquatic Therapy and call us at (602) 249-9129. Ranked Best Physical Therapy Phoenix 2025!(*Source: EXPERTISE, February 1, 2025
Key Benefits
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Buoyancy: allows a person to move more easily with decreased stress on muscles, joints and bones. Provides support and assistance. Used to decrease gravity and usually decreases pain.
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Warm water: our heated, indoor pool temperature ranges from 92-94 degrees Fahrenheit to allow muscles to relax and improve improve blood flow.
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Hydrostatic pressure: water surrounding the body helps circulate blood, often reducing any swelling in the body. Once swelling is decreased, joint tenderness usually decreases and range of motion usually improves.
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Resistance: moving against water or with the mild turbulance allows for strengthening, improvement in balance and stabilization in multi-directions. Sensory awareness is increased, and postural improvements happen within the first visit.
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Southwest Therapy Specialists' unique indoor Aquatic Therapy Pool:
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Temperature: ranges from 94-96 degrees Fahrenheit
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Shallowest Depth: 3 feet (for knee, ankle and foot injuries)
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Depth for majority of treatment: 4 feet, 6 inches (for all injuries, and care plans)
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Deepest Depth: 7 feet (for full suspension, especially for back injuries, non-weight bearing problems, core stabilization, and unloaded aerobic conditioning)
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Shower facility: showering mandatory Maricopa County requirement for all pool entry, to try to minimize dry skin and prevent lotions and/or deodorants from entering pool, no medication patches, no open wounds;
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Five step entry/exit: five 10 inch high steps with two side handrails, patient must be able to enter/exit using steps;
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Wall grabbars on pool walls: grabbars and floatation devices allow for ease and transition to increasing weight bearing and/or stability within the sessions as the patient progresses;
Turbojet: increased water current for the advanced patient to work against turbulence, or to have a "wow-massage" nicknamed "Bennie and the Jets"!(c)
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Spa jets: bench seat with spa jets for that "Ahhh, I've just done the best work-out of my life..." reward!
Sanitization Method: No chlorine smells on the skin or swimsuit in this ozone sanitized therapy pool. No hydrogen peroxide or salt water system to break down a patient's sensitive skin either. Just sanitization utilizing similar techniques used in water treatment to create drinking water. Thus there is no "Sick Building Syndrome" or risk of breathing chlorine fumes at Southwest Therapy Specialists. Many of our competitors have gone out of business with their aquatic therapy pool issues or have non-licensed aides babysit the pool. Not here!
Licensed Therapists, no Techs, since 2006. Serving the community, Veteran's Community Care Network, all worker's compensation, all insurance plans approving Aquatic Therapy including Medicare and Medicare Advantage Plans.
Aquatic Therapy Aquatic Rehabilitation Aqua Therapy Pool Therapy Water Therapy
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"I tell everyone to insist to be referred only here! My doctor's referral person first tried to get me to go to an outdoor pool rented by a different therapy practice: it was ice cold and had dirt & debris from the day's winds, the therapists had no idea how to teach me to manage my pain, and I smelled like chlorine. So I tried to go to two fitness club pools: both were so cold I spent every minute shivering so my muscles cramped, and no one knew how to help me. I told the doctor on the follow-up visit and he said, 'I only meant for you to go to Southwest Therapy. There is no comparison.' You have given me more pain control in the first two visits and I wasted too much time. There is no place like this any where else. Do not change a thing, my hope has returned and I have already progressed." ON (patient)
"I drove past this building for years, never knowing there was a pool! You are the best-kept secret in town. Your therapists are phenomenal." - LA (patient)
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SWTS' Aquatic Therapy offers a seven (7') foot depth unique to therapy pools in Phoenix, AZ. Patients also work in depths ranging from three (3') feet to four and a half (4'6") feet, but our Southwest Therapy Specialists' 7 foot depth allows full body unloading, and suspension with a gentle traction of the spine, hips, knees. The buoyancy up-force creates an anti-gravity opportunity for the skilled Aquatic Therapist to work with the person's needs.
Traditional land-gravity based Physical Therapy exercises without the strain and effort! Unloading without the pain.
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PREGNANCY AND POST-PARTUM THERAPY: Having given birth to triplets after over 16 weeks of bedrest, Susan's passion for pregnancy exercise and post-partum recovery in the pool has been learned through experience. Performing exercises in our pool at Southwest Therapy Specialists can be extremely beneficial during pregnancy and the time after delivery. The water has proven to relax and soothe aching muscles, it eliminates the uneasiness many feel when walking, and prevents the risk of falling. The freedom felt in water can be rejuvenating, while increasing energy and flexibility and keeping the leg blood flow at its optimum. Aquatic Therapy here is in an intimate environment, away from outdoor pool situations. Here, we do not have monsoon weather and extreme heat, shutdowns during the winter, and no "Sick Building Syndrome" as found in so many of our competitors clinics, or similar interfering factors. 
We help pregnancy and post-partum patients to: • Reduce swelling in their legs, ankles and feet. The hydrostatic pressure of our pool naturally increases circulation and decreases swelling in the lower extremities. • Exercise in the water to purposefully attempt to be less stressful on the fetus. • Maintain an exercise regime throughout pregnancy to achieve a consistently healthy weight, and assist with post-partum weight loss. • Keep exercise at low impact. • Strengthen core and legs and secondarily reduce back pain, and assist with prevention of unnecessary weight gain.  Here for you!
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Susan personally is one-on-one with each person in the Aquatic Therapy program. She applies rigorous accreditation standards and the highest threshold of accountability, including assessment and evaluation skills. She works closely with the physician's orders to design a unique program for each individual's needs, taking into consideration the functional limitations, impairments, medical issues and lifestyle concerns. This results in teaching at the highest standards in the nation for Aquatic Therapy. We exceed all expectations and are continuously rated the highest with such entities as the Veteran's Administration's Community Care Network, worker's compensation insurers and our referral sources, and of course, our patients!
This entire use of water is essentially different than traditional on-land Physical Therapy or Occupational Therapy. Positive results in each session. "Why didn't my doctor tell me about Aquatic Therapy before?" "I'm wanting everyone to know...don't hesitate...ask to be referred for Aquatic Therapy at this practice!" JR patient 4/2025
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