Incorporating traditional Finnish Winter Swimming into Physiotherapy for treating Chronic Pain : a Systematized Literature Review
Herrnegger, Sandra (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202304276636
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202304276636
Tiivistelmä
The present thesis is inspired by the Environmental Physiotherapy Association and shows how physiotherapy can have an impact on the historical relation to ‘nature’ via the therapeutic use of natural elements, applied in the field of chronic symptom management.
The aim was to further explore the effects of traditional Finnish winter swimming and to get an idea of how suitable it could be incorporated as a natural tool for physiotherapeutic interventions in treating chronic pain. The objective was to summarize existing primary research via a Systematized Literature Review to form a reliable source of evidence, giving an answer to the research question: “How does regular winter swimming affect chronic pain conditions?”
For better understanding, a thorough theoretical framework, backed up by evidence-based research, informed about the tradition and effects of water therapy and winter swimming, explained pain as a process, discussed how relevant the latest suggested pain-management options are, and shared first insights of blue exercising and the incorporation of winter-swimming into a treatment plan by discussing what impact the environment has on human health and vice versa, all in the context of physiotherapy. The framework cannot be considered a manual guide for winter swimming.
For the Systematized Literature Review, the topic was pre-searched, a proper search query was identified and the database SAMK FINNA was used, which provides scientific articles from several other databases. Free full-text, peer-reviewed, English articles were screened by considering relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria. The remaining articles were assessed by using the PEDro-Scoring Method and valuable data was extracted and analyzed. The whole process was following strict guidelines to ensure the validity and reliability of the work.
The results of this work showed that winter swimming can improve general well-being and that there is a correlation between winter swimming and pain reduction. However, these data could not be generalized in relation to the effect of winter swimming on chronic pain. More specific studies on this topic were recommended.
The aim was to further explore the effects of traditional Finnish winter swimming and to get an idea of how suitable it could be incorporated as a natural tool for physiotherapeutic interventions in treating chronic pain. The objective was to summarize existing primary research via a Systematized Literature Review to form a reliable source of evidence, giving an answer to the research question: “How does regular winter swimming affect chronic pain conditions?”
For better understanding, a thorough theoretical framework, backed up by evidence-based research, informed about the tradition and effects of water therapy and winter swimming, explained pain as a process, discussed how relevant the latest suggested pain-management options are, and shared first insights of blue exercising and the incorporation of winter-swimming into a treatment plan by discussing what impact the environment has on human health and vice versa, all in the context of physiotherapy. The framework cannot be considered a manual guide for winter swimming.
For the Systematized Literature Review, the topic was pre-searched, a proper search query was identified and the database SAMK FINNA was used, which provides scientific articles from several other databases. Free full-text, peer-reviewed, English articles were screened by considering relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria. The remaining articles were assessed by using the PEDro-Scoring Method and valuable data was extracted and analyzed. The whole process was following strict guidelines to ensure the validity and reliability of the work.
The results of this work showed that winter swimming can improve general well-being and that there is a correlation between winter swimming and pain reduction. However, these data could not be generalized in relation to the effect of winter swimming on chronic pain. More specific studies on this topic were recommended.