Hydrotherapy

The therapeutic pool at ALYN Hospital was one of the first rehabilitation pools established in Israel. It opened in 1971. Since then, ALYN has developed extensive expertise in hydrotherapy, and its professional services are provided by a skilled team of licensed physiotherapists.

Hydrotherapy is treatment conducted in water. It is defined as performing physical activity in water to achieve rehabilitation goals.

During treatment, we make use of the unique properties of water to help children improve their physical functioning on land. Properties such as buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure, viscosity, and temperature make it possible to exercise without placing excessive strain on the body. Hydrotherapy can strengthen the body, improve balance, reduce falls, enhance walking and transfers, relieve pain, and improve sensory regulation.

ALYN's pool provides rehabilitation treatments for inpatients, day-hospitalization patients, children enrolled in ALYN's educational programs, and patients referred by Israel's national HMOs. The pool is a central component of ALYN's multidisciplinary treatment program. Patients are referred for hydrotherapy at a frequency tailored to their individual needs by the rehabilitation physicians and physiotherapy team. Treatment in the water is individually adapted to each child according to their age, abilities, medical condition, and established rehabilitation goals.

The treatments are intended for children and adolescents who require rehabilitation following accidents, surgeries, developmental delays, and more. A unique aspect of ALYN's pool program is that it enables patients with external fixators and mechanically ventilated children to enter the water and benefit from hydrotherapy. Children with external fixators enter the pool according to a unique protocol developed at the hospital. This protocol allows them to enter the water without risking complications or endangering other children in the pool. Treatment for mechanically ventilated children is conducted using a specially adapted, longer breathing tube connected to an arm that supports the ventilator. This apparatus provides sufficient freedom of movement, and the staff are trained in the safe handling and support techniques required for these patients.

The goals of aquatic therapy relate to the children's functional objectives in everyday life outside the water. These goals are combined with efforts to improve their functioning in the water, with the aim of helping them achieve greater independence.

ALYN developed the WOTA1 and WOTA2 objective hydrotherapy assessment tools. These tools are used worldwide and have so far been translated into 13 languages. The treatment process includes a WOTA assessment of the patient's abilities in the water, the establishment of treatment goals based on the assessment results, and ongoing monitoring of the patient's progress over time.