Official Therapist Blog

Underwater Treadmill to Help Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries

Author Healthcare Jobs Blogger | 07.29.2011

For some it’s the path of least resistance, but for patients recovering from injuries that resulted in severe spinal cord trauma, the resistance experienced during physical therapy (in the controlled speed of an underwater treadmill) makes all the difference: especially in mobility. The treadmill was developed by Dr. Sandra Stevens, in her human performance lab at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU); the study is a relatively new technology that patients are as eager to use as the physical therapists guiding their sessions in a 270 gallon tank of water. In video footage of the treadmill in use, one patient says, “it makes you feel good.”

Underwater Treadmill video

Details about the Underwater Treadmill

The underwater treadmill got its initial funding from the National Institute of Health. Dr. Stevens began the study with a group of 12 patients, meeting with them 3 times a week for 8 weeks, noting among the positive outcomes that these patients were less likely to suffer from self-fulfilling prophecies and stop progressing. The underwater treadmill seems to prove that there is no ceiling on getting better. In fact, one of Stevens’ patients, who suffered a broken neck in a 2007 accident, continued her therapy after the treadmill study ended, and reports that her wheelchair now sits in a corner, unused 90% of the time. Improvements in this patient and others taking part in underwater treadmill therapy, show the most marked advances are in the number of steps patients managed in their own environments, leg strength, preferred walking speed, and the amount of distance covered in just 6 minutes.

Looking for Physical Therapy Jobs that utilize the cutting edge in technology?

Besides using some of the latest technology, like the Underwater Treadmill, physical therapy jobs let you choose from a wide range of work settings, outpatient and Rehab centers, skilled nursing facilities, and private therapy practices. A physical therapy career is normally ranked highest in job satisfaction; generally, most physical therapists report being very satisfied with their occupation. In addition, a past survey by the Wall Street Journal‘s Career Journal, physical therapy rated one of the eight best careers!

A physical therapy career with Travel Force offers permanent, per diem and travel therapy jobs nationwide. We have high paying allied healthcare jobs in America’s best hospitals, which include University teaching hospitals similar to MTSU where the groundbreaking underwater treadmill was developed. If you love travel and have nowhere to go but up, call 1-800-617-0608 or apply online today. Isn’t it time you got your feet wet?

Travel Force Staffing provides recruitment solutions for America’s top rated rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient and Rehab centers, skilled nursing facilities, and private therapy practices located in all 50 U.S. states.