Elastic adhesive bandages, more commonly known as EAB in the world of sports medicine and in the first aid kit bags of the sports physio., are effectively an elasticated cotton bandage with most usually a zinc oxide adhesive mix.
These bandages are adapted at times to create lightweight tearable versions such as Lightplast Pro manufactured by BSN and Mueller Tearlight tape. This style of EAB contains a blend of fibres ands sometimes the zinc oxide adhesive is replaced by acrylic adhesives.
In essence Kinesiology tape is also an elastic adhesive bandage with an acrylic, albeit used in a completely different way from the traditional strapping techniques associated with EAB.
So EAB is one of the twin taping products of taping and strapping, where the elasticity of the material is used in situations where a degree of movement may be required when taping a joint. This is in contrast to Zinc Oxide taping techniques where generally the sports physiotherapist aims to immobilize a joint.
One of the most common uses of elastic adhesibve bandages can be seen in Rugby where the forwards often wear EAB around their heads, often secured in place by insulating tape |
