Arthritis can cause a sharp pain between joints, joint swelling, and joints to become more stiff. The presence of pain between your joints is due to the lack of cartiledge, which causes the the bones in the joint to rub together. Joint swelling is caused by excessive friction between the two bones. Stiffness is caused by the build up of lactic acid in your muscsles. Lactic acid is a byproduct of breaking down glucose (sugar) into energy due to a lack of oxygen during strenuous activities. For some arthritic patients, simply walking could be a strenuous activity, so lactic acid build up will cause your joints to be stiff. This stiffness will decrease your muscle mass due to a smaller range of motion and create weaker muscles. As a whole, your body will feel weaker due to weaker muscles, and less oxygen to supply to your body.

     Aquataic therapy allows more of your body to float, which relieves the pain from your joints. You will be able to increase your range of motion and since aquatic therapy is low impact, you will not be straining your muscles to do more than they need to. The lack of oxygen will not be as great, so you will feel more energized. You can also strengthen up your muscles without feeling as tired as exercising on land. This will help to improve your quality of life and delay the effects of arthritis.