Guide to the best Tearable Elastic Adhesive Bandages
What are Tearable Elastic Adhesive Bandages?
Tearable Elastic Adhesive Bandages (EABs) might be considered as a cross between a cohesive and an elastic adhesive bandage, and as such have become one of the most important tapes in the sports physio’s first aid kit.
The tapes are crinkly in appearance similar to cohesive bandage, but are coated with an adhesive making them stickier than a cohesive tape on the skin. They are breathable, and hand tearable; a combination of characteristics which makes them extremely useful as a front line sports first aid tape.
They are essentially an adhesive stretch compression bandage offering support to soft tissue injuries and lightweight immobilisation for joint injuries such as ankle sprains, however one of the most common applications is in the taping technique used for the creation of the line-out lifting wrap used in rugby.
How to choose Hand Tearable EAB
This is a sports tape which is all about personal preference. The three top brands in the UK market are Mueller Tear-Light, Lightplast Pro by BSN (Essity) and Vivolight and players will always have their favourites. Perceptions rule with some physios perceiving one brand to be stickier than another, while a different physiotherapist stating the opposite. However, since this is a high usage item in the club physio room, the high quality low cost Vivolight from Vivomed has seen strong market growth in recent years.
How to use Tearable Elastic Adhesive Bandages (EAB)
These sports tapes are very easy to use, simply stretch the tape to the required level of compression and support, apply to the injured muscle or joint and using the chosen taping technique gradually unwind to form the required tape wrap for the injured tissue.
The taping kit used to create the line-out lifting wedge seen on the thighs of line out jumpers in Rugby consists of 1 roll of 7.5cm Vivolight, 1 LockLift foam wedge and a roll of insulating tape to secure the wrap.
