University of Cincinnati TF/XC Athletic Trainer – Zach Turner
Highlights some of the common challenges his patient population faces and how the Firefly has helped these athletes.
If you have ever been around college athletics, you are aware that these athletes are always on the-go; their days are filled with lifts, classes, practices, meetings, study hall, and hopefully having time to eat and be social. The common complaint I get from athletes is that they don’t have the time to recover in the day; they are always on their feet. Taking 30-60 mins to recover in the athletic training room simply isn’t an option for many athletes in any sport.
At UC, where our training room is shared by over 400 student-athletes, being able to use Firefly outside of the athletic training room has been fundamental in solving our capacity issues. The Firefly is a small, portable NMES unit that can be taken anywhere, with no stop in the ATR needed. Athletes are able to recover while in their meetings or classes or study hall. We have helped them with just one problem.
Most sports have a common dilemma where there’s a busy travel schedule, but not a lot of room to pack recovery tools, especially for flight trips. Though our athletes wish we could back compression boots for all, I can not travel with more than a couple of pairs. Instead, I can pack 40 pairs of the Firefly that would take up the same size and weight as 1 set of compression boots.
Better yet, the Firefly has been tested against compression boots and yields a 400% increase in blood flow from hip to toe, a key factor for my sport that is lower-body dominant. The compression boots resulted in only a 117% increase in blood flow. This explains why the Firefly has aided in the treatment and recovery of my athletes experiencing shin splints, Achilles tendinitis, patellar tendinitis, and general muscle soreness. Increasing blood circulation in the lower extremity is key to the physiological recovery of soft tissue, and the Firefly for that reason has also helped in treating new acute injuries.
Our college athletes will wear the Firefly during travel trips and more commonly for 2-4 hours after a workout for recovery from soreness. I’m really impressed with the results I’ve seen so far with the Firefly T2, and the device itself has helped address many of the factors that have previously limited the ability of college student-athletes to recover.
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This busy athletic trainer approves!” – Zach Turner