Walk In Tubs, Blog
How A Walk-in Tub Reduces Muscle Pain
Muscle pain is something that affects all of us at one point in our lives. However, as we age, we’ll experience more aches and pains all over our body. Whether you have arthritis or another condition, a walk-in bathtub can help reduce muscle pain and make your life more enjoyable.
In this article, we’ll discuss the ways in which walk-in tubs for seniors can reduce minor aches and pains.
Benefits of Walk-in Tubs for Muscle Pain
Heat Therapy
Walk-in tubs for the elderly provide an immersive experience of warm water and heat therapy. Thermotherapy, also known as heat therapy, can be more useful than cold water or cryotherapy because muscle pain responds well to heat. If you’ve ever strained your back or maybe legs before, odds are the doctor told you to put a warm compress on it to loosen up the muscles and promote circulation to the sore area. Well if you didn’t know, the same is true for warm water therapy. Instead of a warm compress, the water goes over your entire body to promote a rejuvenating healing power.
Muscle pains caused by spasms, overexertion, and knots are all types of problems that can be reduced with warm water therapy. Whether you are a senior citizen or an athlete with muscle pain, heat therapy is ideal for total relaxation and helping reduce the pain associated with stiffness, cramping, and sensitivity. Hot baths are one of the most effective treatments for these kinds of muscle pains because it promotes circulation all over the body, which brings oxygen and nutrients to the damaged muscles and helps the body heal faster. These kind of baths also provide mild pain relief all over the body, which can help the user continue with their day without extreme pain.
While standard baths can offer you the same heat therapy as a walk-in tub, it’s important to choose the tub that’s right for you or your loved one. A walk-in tub can offer you full immersion to target the entire body instead of only the lower half for even more relief. In addition, our walk-in tubs have the option to be equipped with a heated seat and back for maximum comfort while bathing.
Water Therapy
Hydro Massage & Air Massage
Similar to heat therapy, water in itself can provide relief from aches and pains. Many doctors tell patients with arthritis and muscle pain to workout in a pool because it provides the user with buoyancy. The same concept applies to walk-in tubs. When someone gets in a walk-in tub, they’ll have a sense of weightlessness. This feeling can help decompress strained and aching muscles to relieve pain and soreness.
A Hydro Massage system can hit key pressure points to stimulate sore muscles and joints. It can also help loosen any knots that may be causing discomfort.
This type of massage paired with warm water therapy from a traditional bath can further reduce muscle pain and increase mobility in those with arthritis. Our tubs are equipped with hydro jets that target the back, sides, calves, and feet! For those suffering from diabetes or muscle pain in the legs, our unique independent foot massage system can work alongside with the hydro massage feature so that you can choose to only massage your legs or experience a full bath. You can use this setting with the tub filled up only halfway so that you don’t have to take a complete bath to get relief from aches and pains in your lower extremities. This concentrated massage in the legs and feet can help circulate blood to crucial areas so that you can get relief after a long day.
Air jets provides a light massage that can complement the hydro massage to promote circulation and a healthy lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is important when it comes to the muscles in your body, because if it’s not working properly, it can result in a build-up of waste products and toxins within the muscle to cause soreness, swelling, and fatigue.
One of the systems that helps keep your Ella Walk-In tub fresh and clean is the air massage auto-purge system. After the air pump is turned off, some water flows back into the air pipes which, if left there would create mildew and bacteria. Twenty minutes after you shut off the air massage, auto-purge turns the air pump back on to blow out the water in the air pipes and runs for two minutes, making sure your tub is free from water, mold and mildew. Sometimes you may still be in the tub when this happens. This can be surprising, but don’t be alarmed… it’s just the tub taking care of itself and making sure you have years of clean, reliable service.
One of the best ways to reduce muscle pain is to prevent more from occurring. The number one issue that many elderly people have with their standard tubs is that they pose a safety risk in entering and exiting the tub. In fact, that’s why seniors avoid tubs altogether and opt for stand-in showers with a possible shower seat or bench. However, with showers, you miss out on all of the benefits of a walk-in tub, including the reduction in muscle pain.
With an Ella walk-in tub, seniors will have a low-entry threshold so that getting in and out of the tub is much easier. Not only that, but walk-in tubs are designed with a textured floor to help provide the user with more traction when they get in and out of the tub. Additionally, our tubs have deck mounted grab bars for extra safety. This means no more slips and falls that could cause further pain or injury. By preventing injury and making bathing easy and comfortable, seniors are more likely to use their walk-in tubs for the purpose of reducing muscle pain along with bathing more independently.