Physical therapy in a swimming pool can be a great way to strengthen your joints and muscles and is especially beneficial for people who suffer from conditions or injuries that affect their joints or muscles. The heat and buoyancy provided by the water lessens pain and reduces the strain of exercising, and can help you strengthen your body safely.

If you use pool-based physical therapy on a regular basis, investing in your own pool allows you to perform exercises whenever you want, in the comfort of your own home. Fiberglass pools are especially suitable for therapeutic purposes and have a number of advantages over pools made from concrete or vinyl liners. Here are three reasons why fiberglass pools are ideal for physical therapy:

Excellent Heat Retention

Fiberglass has excellent heat insulation properties, which is why it is so widely used to create wall and roof insulation for buildings. Fiberglass pools are also very good at preventing heat loss and will keep pool water warm for longer than most concrete or vinyl swimming pools. 

This ability to retain heat is useful for any pool owner but is particularly useful if you use your pool for physical therapy. To get the best results from pool-based therapy, your water will need to be kept at a relatively high temperature compared to normal swimming pool temperatures.

In a poorly insulated pool that allows heat to escape, keeping pool water warm enough can become very expensive. Choosing fiberglass will help you keep your pool's running costs under control.

Comfortable, High-Traction Surfaces

Most pool-based physical therapy routines require you to stand, walk and run on the bottom of your swimming pool, sometimes for extended periods. You should therefore choose a pool with a surface that provides good traction and grip for your feet, without causing discomfort.

Concrete swimming pools provide ample traction underfoot, but aren't exactly comfortable, and can cause painful scrapes and grazes. Vinyl swimming pools frequently have the opposite problem—their smooth surfaces won't damage your feet, but don't provide much grip.

The surface of a fiberglass pool is smooth and comfortable underfoot but provides enough traction to make sure you say sure-footed while you exercise. You can also find fiberglass pools with textured bottoms designed to provide additional traction.

Easy To Maintain

If you have a joint or muscular condition that you treat using pool-based physical therapy, you probably don't want to spend back-breaking hours scrubbing algae and dirt off the sides of your pool. Exercising in a heated pool can also cause you to sweat quite a bit—this sweat will affect your pool's chemistry, and you may need to use more chemicals than average to keep your pool water sanitary.

Choosing a fiberglass pool helps you keep maintenance requirements low. The fiberglass used to create swimming pools is non-porous and does not contain any organic materials, making it highly resistant to algae and staining. Any algae or dirt that does accumulate can be scrubbed away quickly and easily. Unlike concrete, fiberglass is also chemically unreactive, and will not alter your pool water's chemistry in any way.  

For more info about fiberglass pools, contact a local company.