disability swimming

bluemax1

Hi there weI am new to the group and looking to see if anyone knows how the disability swimming works I know certain centres do an hour on a day of the week, I just would like to find out from anyone who has had experience with going what is the situation with changing rooms and the privacy of the lesson has my husband is wheelchair user, he has severe arthritis in both knees and has result of this has put a lot of weight on he needs to swim to try get his joints moving, but this is not easy has he feels uncomfortable in front of people, we don't know any other way of some form of exercise for him to do without the pain he is in constantly.


thanks any advise greatly welcome.

Antonia_Alumni

Hi @bluemax1 welcome to the community. Have you been in touch with your GP? They may be able to refer your husband to a suitable leisure centre in your area. 

There are a few seated exercises from Versus Arthritis website and from the NHS website.

Some of our members have mentioned swimming: @Hellymac63 @bootmandy @krazykay71 and can hopefully share their experiences with you.

veriterc

Go for it!  I can assure you hdrotherapy is the best exercise possible.  No need to worry about falling down, but water resistance makes any movement twice as effective  If you are lucky, your local hospital may have a hydotherapy pool, which will be kept at a suitable 34 degrees.  Public pools in leisure centres may be too cold, as they are kept at 29 - 30 degrees.  I value my privacy, and have always found I can get the degree I want.  But you must ensure the showers have adequate safety rails.  I have written about benefits of hydrotherapy on www.aftercancers.com

hdeakin

Hi @bluemax1 and welcome to the community. I go swimming once a week every week and go for hydrotherapy once each week. I love it. It makes such a difference to me and being in the water is amazing. I am a powerchair user and I find the local pool too cold but most local pools have a chair hoist. Where I live there is a lagoon pool which is slightly warmer and they have a disability session where they have showerchairs they can push in to the water(which I prefer to the chair hoist) we support each other and have fun. It is a great exercise. You are free in the water and helps stiffness etc. Where abouts do you live? Is there a hydrotherapy pool near you? That might be a good idea to start and warmer. I would definitely recommend visiting the place first as everywhere has different facilities. If I can help anymore please just ask. Best wishes, Hannah 

veriterc

Hannah
Where is this Utopia?  I would love to know if it is anywhere near me!

hdeakin

Hi @veriterc Pool in the park, Woking, Surrey is the lagoon pool and then hydrotherapy I have a White Lodge, Chertsey, Surrey. 

veriterc

I wish I lived nearer - but will look out to see if there are any similar pools not so far away.  Thanks for info.