Senior Dwayne Trahan often uses the training room machines to recover after practices and games. Throughout the football season, Trahan and his teammates use the Game Ready machine and the electrical current unit to reduce both muscle, joint pain and soreness.

With over 1,200 students participating in sports every year at Paly, it is important that all athletes can be provided with the proper treatment if they sustain an injury.

Paly’s training room contains multiple state-of-the-art machines to help tend to players’ injuries.

Earlier this year, Paly’s athletic department provided the training room with a cold and compression therapy system to help accelerate rehabilitation for any injured athletes.

The machine, called the “Game Ready” GRPro 2.1 system, integrates intermittent pneumatic compression and cryotherapy to reduce pain and swelling, reduce muscle spasms, enhance lymphatic function, encourage cellular oxygen supply and stimulate tissue repair, according to the Game Ready Website.

Designed to be operated by students, the machine was constructed so it can be used by almost anyone.

The system is typically used to heal sprained ankles, injured thighs and shoulders.

“I use the Game Ready machine after football games because it is very easy to use and it is really effective. I usually use the sleeve on my shoulder because as a linebacker I usually hit with my shoulder, so it gets really sore the next day.”

Dwayne Trahan

“To use the machine all you have to do is fill it up with ice and water,” Paly athletic trainer Justine Logni said. “The machine then circulates the ice water at a temperature of around 34 degrees to a sleeve which wraps around the injured body part.”

In addition, depending on the severity of the swelling, one can apply different pressure levels to help the reduction of swelling from the injured area according to Logni.

“We were very lucky to receive the Game Ready machine,” Logni said. “It is the most commonly used machine that we have available to us.”

A more advanced machine in the training room is the electrical stimulation unit. This unit sends an electrical current to muscles or joints to help with pain relief and soreness,  end muscle spasms and increase range of motion.

“We often use the interferential setting on the machine to help relieve pain and increase the athletes mobility,” Logni said.

The electrical current unit especially helped senior Ella Thomsen during her junior year soccer season. She would drop by the training room after practices or games to use available machinery for recovery.

“When I tried the electric current machine it was very weird at first,” Thomsen said. “But after using it, my muscles definitely felt more relaxed and not as sore and tight.”

Another machine in the training room that contributes to pain relief and muscle recovery is the whirlpool.

Unlike an ice bath, the whirlpool provides more health benefits by incorporating water circulation.

“You flip on the switch and water begins to go around,” Logni said. “This provides better blood circulation which helps muscle recovery.”

The whirlpool warms up muscles in order to further increase their flexibility and to make them more pliable, according to Livestrong.com.

“In a high school setting you are very lucky if you have an ice machine,” Logni said. “Fortunately for us, we were blessed with the funding and support to afford these advanced machines to further help our athletes recover and get back out on the field.”