Melanie Kilgore, a physical
therapy assistant with
Active Day of Somerset,
lowers Kenny Perkins into
the pool for therapy. He
suffers from diabetes,
which has decreased circula-
tion to his right foot. Gary
Thurman watches, he is in
therapy for back pain.
here’s nothing like a
T
nice, warm dip in the
pool to relax those
aching muscles and joints.
Or, better yet, there’s noth-
ing like a warm dip in the pool
to help those suffering from
chronic pain and joint issues
regain parts of their lives back
they may have once thought to
be gone for good.
Just ask Gary Thurman, one
patient taking advantage of an
aquatic therapy program
located at the YMCA through
Active Day of Somerset
Outpatient Therapy.
“I can see some improve-
ment when I’m in that water,”
Thurman said. “I can do
things I couldn’t do before.”
Thurman has suffered from
chronic pain since he injured
his back years ago, and he had
learned to simply deal with the
severe pain — which meant
limiting what he could do in
everyday life — before his
August 2009
By Heather Pyles
doctor told him about the
aquatic therapy program.
“Year, after year, after year,
after year,” Thurman said
about the pain that had over-
taken his life. “It’s always
there.”
And while Thurman isn’t
pain-free, the therapy — con-
sidered an alternative to physi-
cal therapy, which can be too
painful for sufferers of specific
problems — has helped him
regain the use of muscles and
joints he’d quit using long ago.
The therapy can also help a
person deal with the pain
without the use of highly
addictive, strong narcotics —
or deal with the pain with the
use of fewer narcotics.
“I could tell I was getting a
little stronger in the water,”
Thurman said. “I was using
muscles I hadn’t used in
years.”
Active Day Center Rehab
Administrator Judy Harmon
9
 said many people who suffer
from chronic ailments like long-
term back and joint pain,
fibromyalgia (a disease that
causes extreme pain over the
entire body), muscular sclerosis,
Parkinson’s disease and diabetes
(causing a significant decrease in
circulation) are pulled into a
“vicious cycle” that renders their
bodies weaker than when they
began.
“So many people with chronic
pain issues ... don’t exercise
because it hurts,” Harmon said.
That reaction is a normal one.
Severe pain naturally causes one
to consider not using the joint or
muscle that is causing the diffi-
culties, and he or she assumes
using the problem joint or mus-
cle would aggaravate it and only
cause more pain.
That may be true temporarily,
Jim Cherry, R.Ph.
900 East Mount Vernon but Harmon and Active Day
Somerset, KY 42501 Center Physical Therapist Sonya
M-F 9:00-6:00 Beattie said that sets up a series
Sat 9:00-1:00
of events that lead to the affected
606•679•9227 area receiving less circulation
©2008 Newspaper Holdings, Inc.
and losing strength.
Visit our Web site at www.medicineshoppe.com The body’s circulation system
Khalid Iqbal, M.D.
GASTROENTEROLOGY
110 Hardin Lane Suite 9 • Somerset, KY 42503
606-679-7317
Dr. Khalid Iqbal, M.D. established his
gastroenterology practice in Somerset
in 1985. He is fully trained in all the
endoscopy procedures, including
colonoscopy. He has done more than
10,000 colonoscopies and has treated a
Khalid Iqbal, M.D. wide range of medical conditions.
10 Southern Kentucky Health & Family Journal
delivers oxygen to the tissue, and
without that oxygen, that tissue
begins to die. Beattie said the
body effectively cuts off circula-
tion to an area once it’s con-
vinced that the area does not
need the oxygen.
Many diabetics struggle with
such a significant decrease in cir-
culation to areas such as the foot
that they’re often forced to have
those limbs amputated.
For Kenny Perkins, that could-
n’t be more true. Perkins suffers
from diabetes, which has led to
circulation problems in his
limbs, specifically his right foot.
“I couldn’t sleep of the night
but for four or five hours,”
Perkins said. “My leg would go
completely numb.”
Perkins said his right leg
would also become ice cold for
periods of time, and he said his
doctor told him the foot would
have to be amputated if the cir-
culation didn’t improve.
That’s when the aquatic ther-
apy program became a possibil-
ity. Perkins, who must stay in a
wheelchair because he cannot

Gary Thurman, 54, injured his back several years ago and has
dealt with chronic pain for a long time. He’s in therapy to help
relieve that pain and regain some movement back that he
hasn’t been able to do in years.
put any weight on his right foot,
is able to use the foot with limi-
tations for the 30 minutes to
one hour he’s in the therapy
pool.
Those sessions — usually
twice a week — have helped
Perkins’ body begin to re-estab-
lish circulation and bring life-
saving oxygen to the problem
area.
“People who can’t even stand
on land by themselves can stand
in the water without help,”
Beattie said.
The water effectively helps
“unload” the ailing joints and
muscles, which helps the patient
use those areas and assists in
lessening the pain.
But that doesn’t mean the
therapy is a bed of roses. Beattie
said at first many patients are
fooled into thinking they can do
things they really can’t — which
can lead to even more injuries.
“I’d of killed myself if I’d
tried to do that (the therapy) by
myself,” Perkins said. “ They
make me slow down and they
take my pulse.”
Beattie said the important
thing to remember is baby steps
for aquatic therapy patients,
thought she pointed out that
patients who are relatively
healthy and recovering from
knee or hip replacement surgery
are expected to make progress at
a quicker speed than those suf-
fering from long-term issues.
And the therapy helps cardio-
vascular health as well.
“You don’t think about pool
therapy being cardiovascular
exercise, but it certainly is,” said
Harmon.
And many patients simply
enjoy the therapy, which is an
added bonus.
“It (the therapy) has helped
me a whole lot,” Thurman said.
“I enjoy the water anyway.”
Thurman said he may need to
undergo a knee replacement

WELCOMING EXISTING & ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS

DR. IBRAIZ IQBAL, MD, M.P.H., F.A.C.C., F.A.C.P.

Board Certified in Cardiology and Medicine
850 Hail Knob Road, Suite B
Somerset, KY
(606) 677-1112
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tion with echocardiograms, stress evaluation
DR. IQBAL is board certified in Car-
diology and Internal Medicine, and tests and cardiac catheterizations.  Pacemaker Placement and interrogation
has advanced training in nuclear
medicine and Cardiac CT scanning.  Complete vascular work-up of neck and  External Counterpulsation for
He has received
extensive training from Allegheny
legs with ultrasounds and angiograms advanced heart disease and heart
failure
University and Medical College of
Pennsylvania, the University of  Complete syncope work-ups with Tilt
South Carolina, the University of tables, holters and event recorders
Pennsylvania, and Tulane University
Medical Center. He also completed
a heart transplantation and ad-
vanced hear failure fellowship. Dr.
Iqbal has been seeing patients in Serving patients in the Lake Cumberland
Pulaski and Wayne counties for the
past four years. Region for more than four years!

August 2009 11
surgery in the enar
future, and he said while
he knows recovery will
be difficult, he knows it’s
doable with the help of
the aquatic therapy pro-
gram.
“It won’t be as hard
getting back this time as
last time,” Thurman said.
Both men plan on
continuing the therapy
as long as they need it,
and they’re looking for-
ward to taking the meth-
ods and tools they
learned to continue the
therapy on their own —
something that wouldn’t
be fathomable without
the help of Active Day
Center.
“These ladies have all
been super,” Thurman
said. “It takes a special
person to do this and
they listen to your prob-
lems.
“Sometimes that’s all
it takes is somebody just
to listen,” Thurman
added.
Perkins is delighted
that the therapy has
helped him stave off
amputation for that
much longer, and he said
he’ll continue to work
toward a healthier life —
with the help of those at
the Active Day Center.
“I’m going to try to
keep my leg as long as I
can,” Perkins said.
While Thurman and
Perkins have both bene-
fited from the therapy,
along with several other
patients, Harmon and Kenny Perkins, 54, suffers from
Beattie said not everyone diabetes, and is in therapy to try
will qualify as a candi-
to stave off amputation of the
date for the program.
foot. It’s seemed to have worked
For more information
about the program and
so far. He can sleep all night now
for information on those (before, his whole leg would go
who may be candidates numb and wake him up, and it
for the program can call would be ice cold too) and put a
Judy Harmon at the bit of weight on it in the water ...
Active Day Center at but not much.
606-678-8566, ext. 27. I

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12 Southern Kentucky Health & Family Journal