Understanding the experiences of Canadian military veterans participating in aquatic exercise for musculoskeletal pain.

Canadian military veterans living with chronic pain face particular challenges after leaving service, and this study looked at how they describe their experiences using aquatic exercise as part of managing that pain. Researchers interviewed ten Canadian Armed Forces veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain who had experience with aquatic exercise, using an approach designed to closely examine personal experience rather than measure outcomes numerically. The analysis identified three broad themes: participants described aquatic exercise as offering relief from pain, as a way of rebuilding a sense of themselves as physically capable, and as part of reclaiming identity and finding a new direction after military service. These findings offer insight into how veterans experience this form of exercise, but because the study is qualitative and based on a small group of self-selected participants, it cannot show whether aquatic exercise actually reduces pain or improves function compared with other approaches.

If you're a veteran living with chronic pain, you may wonder whether aquatic exercise, exercising in water, could fit into how you manage it. This study didn't test whether it works in a measurable way, but instead asked ten Canadian Armed Forces veterans with chronic pain to describe what the experience of aquatic exercise has meant for them. Participants talked about aquatic exercise giving them a break from their pain, helping them feel physically capable again, and supporting a broader sense of rebuilding who they are after leaving the military.

These are personal, meaningful experiences worth paying attention to, but they come from a small group of people who chose to take part, so they can't tell us how common these experiences are among veterans generally or whether aquatic exercise changes pain or function in a measurable way. The findings offer a window into what this kind of exercise can mean to some people, rather than proof of its effects.

This is a summary of research, not medical advice. Talk to your own healthcare provider about anything affecting your care.

For clinicians considering activity-based rehabilitation for veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain, this qualitative study addresses the question of what aquatic exercise means to those who use it, not whether it changes pain or function measurably. Ten Canadian Armed Forces veterans with chronic pain and aquatic exercise experience were interviewed, and analysis using interpretive phenomenological analysis produced three superordinate themes: temporary respite from pain, reconstruction of identity as physically capable, and a broader process of reclaiming self and finding direction post-release. These themes suggest aquatic exercise may hold psychosocial and identity-related significance for veterans beyond symptom relief, which could inform how programs are framed or discussed with this population.

However, the study offers experiential insight only, drawn from a small, self-selected sample using in-depth interviews, and does not establish treatment effectiveness, generalizability across the broader veteran population, or any causal link between aquatic exercise and improved pain or function. Clinicians should read these findings as illustrating potential meaning and acceptability of aquatic exercise for some veterans, distinct from evidence of clinical benefit, with applicability limited by the qualitative design and small participant group.