Hydrotherapy (Underwater Walking) Rehabilitation
Hydrotherapy rehabilitation uses an underwater walking system in warm water to help you begin weight-bearing gently after lower-limb injury or surgery. Buoyancy reduces load on painful joints, warm water relaxes muscles and eases pain, water pressure supports circulation and reduces swelling, and gentle water resistance helps strengthen weak muscles as you recover.
Medically reviewed by the Florence Healthcare medical team · Last reviewed June 2026
Overview
Our hydrotherapy uses a personal underwater walking pool that is drained and refilled with clean warm water for each patient. Four properties of water work together to aid recovery: hydrostatic pressure supports circulation, reduces swelling and can lower heart rate and blood pressure; warm water relaxes muscles and eases pain; buoyancy reduces the load on painful joints so movement is easier; and gentle water resistance helps strengthen weak muscles.
The program is mainly used as patients begin weight-bearing after injuries and surgery to the lower limbs. Because buoyancy carries much of your body weight, you can often practise walking and controlled movements sooner and more comfortably in water than on land, then progress toward full land-based activity. Depth, walking time and resistance are adjusted for each session, and hydrotherapy is combined with other therapy within an individually planned rehabilitation program.
For international patients, a coordinator arranges your assessment and a written plan and provides a transparent, itemized cost estimate before travel. Our specialists can review your reports remotely to outline likely goals beforehand, and you receive clear guidance so progress can continue after you return home.
Who is a candidate?
- People beginning weight-bearing after surgery or injury to the hip, knee, ankle or foot
- Patients whose joints are too painful or too swollen for comfortable land-based walking
- Those who benefit from practising movement with reduced load before progressing on land
- People with weak muscles who can build strength gently against water resistance
- Patients cleared for water-based therapy with healed wounds and stable general health
What happens
- 1
Assessment
A physiotherapist reviews your surgery or injury and any weight-bearing limits, checks that your wounds are healed and that water therapy is safe, and sets your goals.
- 2
Program design
We plan the water depth, walking time and resistance for your stage of recovery, using buoyancy to reduce load early and increasing the challenge as you improve.
- 3
Supervised sessions
In your personal warm-water pool you practise walking and controlled movements with support from the water, progressing gradually as comfort and strength allow.
- 4
Progress review
Your comfort, swelling, strength and walking are reviewed regularly, the settings adjusted, and land-based exercise and a home program added as you advance.
Benefits
- Buoyancy reduces load on painful joints so you can move and walk more comfortably
- Warm water relaxes muscles and can ease pain during exercise
- Water pressure supports circulation and can help reduce swelling after injury or surgery
- Gentle water resistance helps rebuild weak muscles as you progress
- A clean, personal pool drained and refilled for each patient
Risks & considerations
- Results are gradual and individual, and a specific outcome cannot be guaranteed
- Temporary soreness or tiredness after sessions is normal and the pace is adjusted
- It does not replace surgery, medical treatment or your surgeon's weight-bearing instructions
- Not suitable for everyone, including open or unhealed wounds and some heart, skin, infection or continence conditions
- Benefit depends on attending sessions and following the wider rehabilitation plan
Conditions this treats
Where it is performed
This procedure is delivered by our Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation.
Learn more before you decide
Provider-reviewed guides on the related conditions, symptoms and tests in our Health Library.
Hydrotherapy (Underwater Walking) Rehabilitation — frequently asked questions
Water supports your body in several ways at once: buoyancy takes weight off painful joints, warm water relaxes muscles and eases pain, water pressure supports circulation and helps reduce swelling, and gentle resistance strengthens weak muscles. Together these often make early movement more comfortable than on land.
No. The underwater walking pool is personal — it is drained and refilled with clean warm water for each patient before use.
It is mainly used as you begin weight-bearing after lower-limb injury or surgery, once your wounds are healed and your team confirms water therapy is safe. Because buoyancy reduces load, you can often practise walking sooner and more comfortably before progressing to land.
No. This is a supervised underwater walking program in a controlled pool, not swimming. A physiotherapist sets the depth and guides each session, and the water supports you throughout.
Water pressure can lower heart rate and blood pressure, which suits many people but not everyone. Your team reviews your medical history first and will advise whether hydrotherapy is appropriate for you or whether another approach is safer.
We provide a transparent, itemized estimate after reviewing your case and do not quote fixed prices online, because each plan is individual. The number of sessions depends on your injury or surgery and your goals, and your coordinator confirms the timeline before you travel.
Related treatments
Considering hydrotherapy (underwater walking) rehabilitation?
Share your reports for a medical second opinion and a transparent, itemized cost estimate — usually within 48 hours.