Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Whirlpools

Are there any AT's out there who still use their whirlpools? I haven't used one for about 15 years; have one I use as a slop tank & to fill up coolers. I'll start using it again if you can give me a reason. Pain relief in the acute phase maybe? Elbow sprains? Go ahead, convince me.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Joe,
It holds all my foam rollers. I have never used mine since being at my school (9+ years). Not exactly a "green" rehab tool when you are suppose to clean between each athlete to be hygenic, dumping that water seems like a gigantic waste.

KP said...

I'm you Joe - an old cooler works really well for a slush bucket if you want to cool something down to do cryokinetics, holds less water, takes less time to fill and easier to clean. Other than that I can't think of a reason to use a whirlpool.

ABPrints said...

Nope, not gonna convince ya. I don't know how long ours was in the room before I was hired there, but it took 6 years for them to heed my request and finally get it out last year.

JH said...

I don't use it a lot but I have used it more frequently with the industrial athletes. According to the seminar I went to this past summer, "Evaluation and Intervention for Musculoskeletal Injuries: A Biomechanical Approach", They indicated that the use of heat modalities will actually help to make tissues satranger as they are healing. So I use a whirlpool as a heat modality and not so much as a cold modality.

I also think of it as a means of massage. Instead of using my hands I use the water. BUt like I said, I don't use it much.

JH said...

that should read stronger and not satranger.

Sorry.

Kev said...

I'll be the "odd ATC out". I use mine a lot during the early fall and during track season. Cold soaks help refresh the legs and seems to reduce next day soreness. Kids ask for it by name even though it's cold and isn't much fun for the first few minutes. The repeat customers tells me it's doing something positive. Basically I use it to stave off soreness or as adjunct in treating overuse issues.

That said I never use it as a treatment modality for acute type injuries. Ankle and knee injuries are better treated in other ways.

I rarely use mine as a hot whirlpool.