Taping, Wrapping & Padding

The use of taping, wrapping & padding is fundamental to the practice of sports medicine as well as to many other areas in which health care practitioners operate.

Traditional athletic tapes can be classified as falling into one of three categories – non-elastic, elastic and cast. Both elastic and non elastic tapes are equipped with adhesive backings that are intended to adhere directly to the skin or to other materials. Tapes will generally be used to provide support and reduce the range of motion of the injured joint. They can also be used to secure wraps, pads or dressings. The athletic tapes on this website do not generally include cast tapes.

Unlike traditional athletic tapes, kinesiology tapes are designed to allow a full and normal range of motion of joints and tissues. They actually depend for their effectiveness on the patient being able to perform his or her regular everyday activities.

Next in the taping, wrapping & padding section, wraps can be divided into three categories – elastic, self adherent and cloth. They can be used to provide compression and support, to reduce range of motion or to secure pads or dressings. Woven elastic wraps (a.k.a. tensor bandages) provide adjustable compression and also adapt to specific body contours by providing multi-directional compression.

Pads protect athletes from injury, or from additional injury, during training or competition. They can be classified as being made from either soft, low density materials or from hard, high density materials.