Working at a desk for long periods of time or making the wrong movement while exercising can trigger joint pain. With elbow bandages you can relieve the discomfort until the arm becomes more flexible again. The joint bandage not only helps against the pain, it also promotes the healing process.
How do I recognize good elbow braces?
Sore joints aren’t uncommon and they don’t appear in old age. Even as a young person, you may suffer from it, for instance after an accident while doing sports. A fall from a bicycle or an unfortunate kick while playing football can cause injuries. With an elbow bandage, you provide your joint with support and, ideally, accelerate the healing process. The sports bandage is a useful aid for inflammation and pain in the elbow joints.
It has long been known that in addition to the kinesiology tape, the elbow bandages also help with tennis elbow (epicondylitis). A distinction must be made between the joint braces and the classic bandage, whereby the bandages are primarily used to compress injuries.
Elbow braces all perform the same basic function, however there are differences between the different products on the market. Here you’ll find the most important criteria with which you can select a suitable product for your needs in the test.
Size: as with normal clothing
In the size chart you can see what size the band needs to be so that you can put it around your arm perfectly. The size specifications don’t differ from those of normal clothes. For small people, bandages in size S are available, the other sizes range from M to L to XL or even XXL.
Closure type: Velcro or to be pulled over
You can buy the forearm bandage with differing types of fastening. Two types of fasteners are typical: the Colecast fastener and the bandage for covering. Strictly speaking, the last-mentioned variant doesn’t offer a proper closure, but is designed in such a way that it can be pulled over directly.
Shape: brace or bandage
You receive your elbow brace as a brace or as a bandage. Both forms accelerate the healing process . However, the bandage also offers a support function. Often these models are also equipped with Velcro fasteners that you can use to adjust the width of the bandage.
Pad: faster healing process
Some bandages are also equipped with a soft pad to form them easier to carry. The pressure relief not only has a comfort function, it also effectively accelerates the healing process. A pad is therefore part of the basic equipment of many high-quality bandages. Above all, it’s important that you align the pad correctly, position it precisely on the pain point and fix it there. Then the bandage unfolds its best effect.
Material: plastic or synthetic fibers
Each elbow bandage is made of a different material, but some materials have clearly prevailed with the manufacturers. These include plastic and synthetic as well as neoprene and silicone. Material combinations like neoprene and silicone are often found. The main focus here is on high skin compatibility and the material must be robust and elastic at the same time. This is the only way to ensure that the bandage can fulfill its function and that it’s comfortable enough for you to wear at the same time.
In the case of neoprene, admixtures such as nylon or spandex ensure that the material is breathable. Better oxygen transport plays a decisive role in preventing sweating under the bandage.
Which elbow brace is right for me?
Which elbow bandage is best suited to which problem? you can find the answer to this question here. Using the examples listed, you should be able to quickly find a model in the test that meets all requirements and is cheap enough at the same time.
Elastic elbow braces: For the athlete
The best support for your elbow is of little use if you do a lot of sport and can’t move with the aid. The classic elbow bandage isn’t suitable here, as it is relatively tight and restricts movement a little. Instead, opt for a brace with Velcro. The brace only covers a small area and thus hardly restricts movement. The Velcro itself is also flexible and therefore disturbs the movements of the arm much less.
Joint braces are therefore the best choice for athletes. With it you can still go jogging and even pick up your tennis or golf club. The extent to which this is actually still possible in practice naturally also depends on the severity of your individual findings. It’s difficult to make general statements here.
The vernacular speaks of a tennis elbow in the case of epicondylitis. This condition is a painful irritation of the tendon origin, either on the inside or outside of the elbow. The pain can have different causes. The problem often occurs when the arm is improperly stressed or the posture is incorrect. In tennis, for instance, the serve is problematic. But the issue can also arise in golf and in many other sports.
Elbow bandage: For acute sports injuries
In the event of a sports accident, the most important thing is rapid wound healing. And you should support them as much as possible. The compression of the damaged tissue plays a decisive role here. Even a small compression contributes to an increase in the flow rate of the blood, which heats the affected areas and promotes wound healing. For this reason, you ought to definitely choose a bandage if you injure soft tissues in the elbow area. Joint braces won’t help you here because the compression effect is missing.
Problems with the elbow joints don’t only occur with injuries. In older people in particular, it is not uncommon for wear and tear to become noticeable on the joint and pain in the elbow. Osteoarthritis also can be present and cause pain in everyday life. In all of these cases, the elbow bandages made of elastic material such as neoprene are the best choice.
In difficult cases, you should buy a bandage with a pad. This extra pad intensifies the pressure on the affected area and thus increases the effectiveness of the bandage. A bit of skill and experience is required to put the pad on correctly, but the relief of tendons and muscles is all the greater thanks to the redistribution of pressure.
Conclusion
Now you’ve got all the information you need to pick the right elbow brace. Address pain in the elbow confidently with this practical medical aid and buy a product from our selection that supports a quick recovery and less pain in everyday life.