Anti-Gravity Therapy Benefits Baby Boomers

Physical therapy can be a long and grueling process, especially for people recovering from a serious injury. But a new treatment, anti-gravity therapy, takes the stress of gravity out of the equation, making it safer and more efficient than traditional physical therapy -- or even water therapy.

When Sheldon Woller fell from a ladder and broke his pelvis and right thigh bone, the 66-year-old feared weeks of cold parallel bars and painful physical therapy.

Instead, Woller used an anti-gravity treadmill that made him almost weightless as he rebuilt his strength and balance. Seven months after his fall, Woller walks without crutches.

"I felt like an astronaut in that treadmill. I could move freely, with my feet barely touching the ground. And no pain," said Woller, a retired New York City court reporter.

The system uses straps adjusted to the individual patient that run along tracks in the ceiling. The straps attach under the patient's arms and legs, like a parachute harness. Patients with broken bones, arthritis and neurological problems will be able to move about the institute, said Walczak.

"Our goal is to keep people independent. That's what Baby Boomers will want as they age," Walczak said.

Anti-gravity treatment is safer and more efficient than therapy in a pool. And one physical therapist can monitor a treadmill or tracking patient, while more than one therapist often is needed for a pool treatment, said Sonia Francis-Dukes, a physical therapist at MorseLife, a West Palm Beach senior living center where Woller received his treatment. MorseLife bought one of the $30,000 treadmills about a year ago.

And recovery time is faster than traditional physical therapy, she said. Normally, a broken hip or serious knee-injury patient takes about six to eight weeks before they can begin to walk unassisted. With anti-gravity, that time is cut to four to six weeks, she said.

"The only bad thing is patients can get too attached to anti-gravity. It's important they still walk and exercise in the traditional way," she said.

Treadmill users don black rubber shorts and are zipped into a waist-high transparent plastic bag. When the air-tight bag is inflated, the pressure lifts the user's legs so the weight on their feet is reduced up to 80 percent. A 160-pound person could feel like 32 pounds.

That's why users say they feel like Neil Armstrong bobbing around on the dusty lunar surface. That same 160-pound Earthling weighs about 27 pounds on the moon.

"Instead of worrying about falling over, patients concentrate on walking and coordination. Not only does the treadmill strengthen muscles, it builds the patient's confidence," said Francis-Dukes.