BLACK ELBOW STRAPS: 2009 VERSION OF THE MID-90’S FAD – “TV TAPE”
Odd title, let me explain. Back when I was a student athletic trainer with Saint Louis University Athletics, it was my duty to make sure all athletes were able to perform their sport and that included the cheerleaders. Before each home game during the basketball season, it would be my duty to tape the male cheerleaders’ wrists. Although I’m sure this added some stability to the joint, I would always tease my friend that the whole purpose of the tape was so that he could write words on the tape so that when the TV would pan across them, he would be able to get a message across; thus I named the wrist taping procedure as “TV Tape”.
Now, move forward 15 years and we have a new trend that is now pervasive throughout sport. That is the wonderful Cho-Pat. The Cho-Pat and similar bracing devices are designed to reduce the stress on the tendons at various places on the body where a tendinitis could be present: namely the elbow and knee. Now, I am NOT saying that tendinitis does not occur or not a problem that is present in many athletes; HOWEVER I am saying I have never seen a single case of bilateral triceps tendinitis ever in my clinical career. Add that fact to the reality that many athletes are now wearing these devices on both extremities at the same time and I am left believing that this fad is not being used in manner of the originally intended purpose.
If you do a quick little search on the web, I believe my suspicions are confirmed. One site had a few respondents who actually believed it was used for a sweat reducer of some type. Another responded to that person and stated it did not work too well, however he was continuing to use it as it “looked cool”.
People, c’mon! Really!!
Alright, here’s the theoretical reason as to not use it in this manner. When tendinitis is diagnosed, a person goes through treatment which can consist of various types, medication, physical therapy, etc. Based on NOT getting a result of back to normal after those treatments are used, it is then decided to use a “brace” of some type to assist the body in doing the action it is having problems with. That is where the problem arises. If you add an external device to assist your body to do what it itself cannot do, over time you have to theoretically weaken the body as it is not meeting the demand itself.
Get it? Theoretically you are actually weakening your body if you are using a device intended to assist a person do an activity pain-free IF they were unable to do it without the brace.
That is where we’re at with this. If you think it looks cool, great! But let’s look at the bigger picture here! A medical device should be used if a medical condition is present; not due to the improved aesthetics of using the device.
Tags: APTA, elbow bands, football, game day, nfl, nfl players, Swelling, tendonitits
Comments (1)
All your blogs are informative, but this one is my favorite so far!