Hemophilia is a congenital genetic disorder. Hemophilia patients lack certain proteins in plasma which are responsible for blood clotting. Hemophilia type A or deficiency of coagulating factor 8 is the most common type of hemophilia and among every 10,000, one newborn is affected. Severity of this disease depends on the level of clotting factor 8. If the amount of clotting factor 8 is between 5-40% of normal level, the person is affected with mild hemophilia and spontaneous hemorrhage rarely is seen in this group. In the moderate type, the amount of factor 8 is less than 5% and in severe type, this number reaches to less that 1% of normal level. One of the side effects of Hemophilia is muscle weakness.

Muscle weakness occurs because of the repetitious bleeding within the joints. Hemophilia patients who are affected with hemarthrosis will lose their muscles strength and their range of motion through time and this leads to inability to do the patient’s daily function. Swelling and joints pain leads to restriction of the joints movement. After this inactivity, the patient uses less the joints and muscles which are around the painful joint. However, the pain itself also helps the development of this inactivity. Thus, after a while, the person will be affected with muscle atrophy and his muscle strength and joints’ range of motion will decrease. When we compare a hemophilia patient with a healthy inactive person, the difference in the amount of muscle strength is obvious. Compared to sedentary healthy people, hemophilia patients’ muscle strength, especially in the lower limbs, is reduced.

One study, done by Dr. Kargarfard et al evaluated the effect of a period of aquatic exercise therapy on muscle strength and joints range of motion in hemophilia patients.

Aquatic exercise therapy which was performed on hemophilia patients caused significant improvements in the muscles’ power and the joints’ range of motion. Because the muscles weakness and poor range of motion was are among the main problem of hemophilia patients, it is recommended that these patients do the exercise therapy in the water along with the other treatments procedures to improve their joints condition, strength and range of motion.

Similarly, Aquatherapy can help with other conditions that induce muscle weakness, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, muscular dystrophies, hypotonia, a lack of muscle tone that’s usually present at birth, myasthenia gravis.

If you have been affected by chronic debilitating condition that causes muscle weakness, please see an aquatic therapy specialist at the PRI clinic. This multi-disciplinary team is specifically trained to properly introduce your body to aquatic therapy, which will allow your body to achieve a remarkable improvement in your lifestyle. To book a consultation, please call or follow these links.

Tel:      (416) 477-1101

E-mail: reception@priclinic.com

Web:   www.priclinic.com

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