Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Underwater Treadmill Training on Different Populations

There are many populations of people who need rehabilitation but sometimes normal treadmill and overground rehabilitation can bring more pain than help. This is because of the gravity and weight that is being put on the body and this causes patients to stop going to therapy because they are in pain and the cycle of deterioration begins. This is when it would be beneficial to try underwater treadmill training, which is using water’s buoyancy to take pressure away from the body. The goal of these studies was to find which population would be affected by completing underwater treadmill training over certain periods of time. Each study used the Hydrotrak treadmill or one of the top leading underwater treadmills competitors. The hypotheses that were shown in the articles all showed the want to improve gait, balance, and overall personal mental health. Many different populations were being tested, such as, athletes, stroke patients, spinal cord injuries, cardiovascular patients, obese patients, and healthy patients. They almost all reacted positively to the training, and this shows that underwater training is used for more than what is known for with stroke patients. We have seen that even when the water is up to the navel it relieves the pressure of gravity up to fifty percent, and when it is up to the xiphoid process it relieves more than sixty percent. This presentation will discuss the different populations this training could be used for, as well as different activities that can be done in the water for rehabilitation.