A guiding principle in our product development is that a good training tool targets a specific problem and teaches the athlete to solve it themselves. We used to assume the main problems were technique and power.
But over the years we’ve heard from people using DragSox in other ways, too: to recover from injuries or surgery. We knew resistance in the water was useful in rehabilitation, but didn’t know the details. Recently an aquatic physical therapist walked us through how they and their colleagues use our equipment with patients. Here’s what we learned:
DragSox help patients reach aerobic capacity without weight or compression
DragSox can help recover from amputation because they increase resistance without compression. The elastic band can be loosened so it doesn’t restrict the residual limb, while still creating drag. Patients can build strength through flutter kick, hip abduction and adduction, and cycle kick. The physical therapist told us that DragSox have worked for return-to-sport athletes across a range of injuries and conditions.
We heard that DragSox can also be effective after spinal cord injury, allowing arm resistance for patients who have shoulder function but lack grip strength. Worn on the feet, they can provide sensory input for pediatric patients who need more of it there.
Sensory Mitts help stimulate sensory receptors in therapy
We have written before about how Sensory Mitts stimulate sensory receptors and improve feel for water. What we had not considered is that sensory stimulation can be the goal itself rather than a means to a better stroke.
Occupational therapists use Sensory Mitts as a source of excitatory input. The sheer number of holes is beneficial because each opening is a separate point of contact — the same reason a sensory bin of small objects does more than one of large objects. The compartments do two things at once: they add drag and they add sensory input. In a therapy setting, resistance and stimulation arrive in the same movement rather than as two separate activities.
Sensory Mitts also appear in return-to-sport work. A competitive swimmer recovering from injury reported that Sensory Mitts and VB Air made the catch phase easier to feel during breaststroke. It turns out that the tool we designed for athletes to perfect their stroke can also help them return to the sport after an injury.
VoloBlades and VB Air for grip-limited patients
VB Air and VoloBlades are designed to be used without restricting the fingers or requiring grip strength. We heard that both have worked well with spinal cord injury patients and with patients whose Ehlers-Danlos syndrome affects the fingers, reducing strain during flare-ups.
VB Air is used for triceps press-downs, the buoyancy providing resistance on the way down. VoloBlades are used for horizontal abduction and adduction and for D2 flexion patterns.
Seated core workout with VB Air
The physical therapist also told us another exercise they plan to try in the future.
Here’s the idea: a patient with decreased grip strength sits on a platform in the water and holds VB Air under the surface. Keeping the buoyant VB Air underwater requires prolonged shoulder extension, and staying upright requires core control for balance. Moving into horizontal abduction against the resistance — close to a seated breaststroke scull — brings in scapular strength.
The physical therapist also suggested that VoloBlades might pair with the ankle weights and buoyant ankle floats, which are already used to target gait deficits.
What’s good for swimmers is good for patients
It turns out that the design decisions that make a tool good for swimmers — non-invasive, no grip required, and no added weight — matter in rehabilitation, too.
We love hearing about about how our gear can help people, especially in a field like physical therapy which we knew very little about! If you work in aquatic therapy and use our equipment, we would love to hear from you. Please reach out at [email protected].
This isn’t medical advice. This is just what we learned from talking to one physical therapist in case others find it interesting.