Ives Pool, Sebastopol, Calif. 707 823-8693
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City of Sebastopol
 
Aquatic Therapy Classes

For Swimmers and Non-Swimmers with musculoskeletal Problems.

Low Chlorine, outdoors pool.

Water temperature 81 F.

Lifting devices and ramp available for easy entry into the pool.

All facilities are handicapped accessible.

  • Get a good aerobic workout in a non-impact or low impact style in the pool while still protecting your joints.
  • Learn how to swim, if you wish, if you are a non- swimmer.
  • Learn how to modify your swim strokes to reduce pain and stress on your joints.
  • Strengthen the core muscles (neck and trunk muscles) as well as your arms & legs.
  • Improve overall endurance, circulation, and flexibility.
  • Learn how to control your pain.
Instructors
Cheryl Durinick, O.T.- CA licensed & National Board Certified Occupational Therapist. Specialized in pain management care @ Long Beach Memorial Hospital & St. Helena Hospital. Certified personal trainer & aerobic instructor. Lifeguard, swim instructor, therapeutic aquatics and aqua aerobics instructor. Call 829 – 5258

Rhodan Vignaud, P.T.- licensed as Physical Therapist since 1980 and experience in swim instruction since 1960. Specialized in orthopedics, treatment & prevention of work injuries, ergonomics, and aquatic therapy. Also available for private lessons. Call 939- 8769.
Group Class: See the main schedule for class days and times. $6.00 per class or $55 for 10 classes.

Newcomers: One private lesson for $25 is required to evaluate your individual needs.

Some insurance policies may cover the costs.

Financial scholarships are available.

(Do not let money be an obstacle. Discuss your needs with the instructor, who may have some helpful ideas.)


Aquatic Therapy
Rhodan Vignaud, Physical Therapist
What is aquatic therapy? It’s dipping the principles of physical therapy into the water. It’s the perfect blending of all the ways to exercise within the perfect medium of water, which takes away gravity, weight-bearing, stress and strain on the joints.

The program at Ives Pool is my dream come true. I’m able to help people who are in pain or who have lost the ability to move on land, and to see them move with some freedom from pain, from crutches, etc., and with joy in the water.
My program is fun. We laugh and all of the people in the class help each other. The class has become an unofficial support group, for those who want that. That’s one of the benefits that I didn’t plan, but has just happened. As everyone is learning how to protect the body and strengthen the muscles, they share their stories, their injuries, their experiences, the latest medicine, the newest doctor in town, what helps them, what doesn’t, in ways that they cannot share with people who are “normal” (non-diseased, uninjured), and who may not understand. They share their troubles and their triumphs. We sometimes call the class the “BROKEN PARTS CLUB.” I thought the woman with eight back surgeries was the “winner” of this strange contest, but then a man joined who has had thirteen surgeries all told, on the back and legs. No matter what the physical problem, everyone tries their best.

I also call the class “CONTROLLED CHAOS” because everyone is moving a different way, all supposedly trying to do the same exercise, but with their own particular adaptations for their own particular needs. Members of the class say “in the water, we feel like we’re all hard bodies.” Everyone gets a workout adapted to their own pace or abilities.

You do not have to know how to swim to join this class. However, some non-swimmers in the class, are now accomplished swimmers. Before I became a physical therapist, I was trained as a swim instructor at age 13. If you wish, I can teach you how to swim during the class. OR. you can do all of the exercises in the shallow end of the pool and never learn to swim.

The class will adapt to what you need and want from it. Some members have moved on to recovery, moved on with their lives. Some have “graduated” to swimming laps; some are back to doing land exercise. Some members have stayed in the class for several years, because they love it!

The class is also jokingly called “AQUADES,” a play on the word Pilates, the popular movement technique that emphasizes strengthening the core muscles in the trunk. You will definitely get a good workout for your core, which is known as spinal stabilization in the physical therapy world.

If you have a weak or injured body part, you will be able to exercise that one part - but not alone. It’s impossible to just strengthen or work one part of your body in the water. All of your body, every single part, will benefit, no matter what you try to do in the water.

Finally, I’ll mention that I started this program n 1998 in part as an answer to the health insurance problem in Sonoma County, with physical therapy benefits becoming fewer and more costly. The program is designed to be affordable, on-going physical therapy in the water. I believe I am the only licensed physical therapist teaching such a program in a public pool in the county and perhaps in the whole country.

Please give me a call if you want to know about Aquatic Therapy, to see if the program is appropriate for you.