Effects induced by swim on a patient with multiple sclerosis. Case Report

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease of the CNS, affecting young adults in their formative years, where current treatments have limited effectiveness. Since the American Physical Therapy Association considers an aquatic therapy program the preferred practice patterns, we used the aquatic therapy in a warm environment for an individual with MS. We found that impairment, as assessed by the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), was not affected by the rehabilitation program. However, perceived fatigue, as estimated by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), functional independence, as appraised by Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and muscular force, as evaluated by the Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) showed significant improvements as a consequence of the rehabilitation protocol. Therefore, aquatic therapy might represent an useful instrument in the rehabilitative journey of an MS patient.