By Mary Herman-Cappoli

"The improvement has been remarkable. I see changes in every class." - Ray Vachon

Water is essential to life. No one knows that better than Ray Vachon.

Since fracturing his pelvis in a fall last October, Vachon has used water to improve his life.

Following a brief stay at Bay State Medical Center, the 58 year-old Palmer resident went to HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital in Ludlow. Working in the hospital’s therapeutic gymnasium, Vachon’s inpatient therapy brought significant improvements.

"I was in a lot of pain, but gradually I moved from using a wheelchair to walking short distances with a walker, making meals, showering on my own and climbing a few stairs," he said.

But when it came time for outpatient therapy, Vachon opted for something different. "Land therapy —working in the gym — was just so painful, he said, "that I decided to try HealthSouth’s aquatic therapy program."

It didn’t take long for Vachon to know he had made the right decision. While the pool’s 90-plus degree temperature relaxed his muscles, the water’s buoyancy and reduced gravity made it easier for him to move.

"In waist-deep water, patients only bear about 50 percent of their body weight. In chest-deep water, only 25 percent. That makes it much easier for them to move," explained Ed DeChellis, a HealthSouth physical therapy assistant. "At the same time, the water’s resistance requires them to give a stronger, faster push."

For Vachon, these advantages reduced his pain, increased his confidence, and opened the door for him to fully participate in therapy. "At first I had to ease into the pool from a wheelchair. But after just two sessions I was walking into the water and moving around."

According to DeChellis, "Initially during our walking laps around the pool, I had to encourage Ray to catch up to me. Now he has no problem doing that."

These days Ray Vachon also has no problem walking long distances and is even back to driving. "I used to take pain medications every four hours. Now I only need them if I do something taxing — like shopping around the mall, which I did for four hours just before Christmas," he said.

Although aquatic therapy is not for everyone — especially those who are not comfortable in the water — it has proven very beneficial for patients with a wide range of diagnoses. "I’ve seen significant improvements in people with fibromyalgia and chronic pain," said DeChellis, who facilitates HealthSouth’s three weekly 45-minute aquatic therapy sessions.

But once people have progressed, they then need to gradually transfer to land therapy so they can practice functional activities. "Naturally, you can’t live in a pool, but because people can do things in water with less pain than they can on land, aquatic therapy is a wonderful way to help patients improve their strength, range of motion, and endurance so they can then move on to land therapy," said DeChellis.

That’s exactly what Ray Vachon will soon begin to do. "I know I’ve made progress that I would not have made had I initially started with land therapy," he said. "The improvement has been remarkable. I see changes in every class."