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Local sports physio Pat Arnold shares his tips and insights on common injuries your club will face this season. This week he explains how to tape a shoulder to protect it after a dislocation.

I wrote last week about why the decision to have surgery or not can be quite complex for local footballers after they suffer a shoulder dislocation. Whatever decision is made, when the player returns to play they are unfortunately susceptible to re-injury.

A common strategy used to reduce this risk is to apply a specific taping technique to the shoulder. How to do this effectively is the topic of today's article.

Watch any local footy team run out on a Saturday, and you are guaranteed to see at least one (and probably a few more) players strapped this way. It is a reflection of how common shoulder dislocations are.

This technique provides tension and extra stability to the shoulder when it is placed in vulnerable positions, such as when a player reaches their arm above their head (such as when they are competing for a mark) or wrenched backwards (like when an opponent breaks through an attempted tackle).

For this tape we use fixomull or rigid tape for the anchors, and 75mm elastic adhesive bandage for the rest.

Step 1. The athlete places an arm on his hip. Apply two or three anchor strips up and over the top of the shoulder from front to back as shown in the pictures.

Step 2. With the stretchier ‘elastic adhesive bandage’ tape, start at the anchor at the front of the shoulder. Apply the tape (with moderate tension) horizontally over the front of the shoulder, continue to the mid portion of the upper arm bone, where you do one-and-a-half loops around the arm (get the athlete to flex their biceps when you do the loop). When the roll appears from under the arm for the second time, you then tape diagonally back up the arm and over the back of the shoulder to finish on the back aspect of your anchor tape. You might repeat this step two or three times.

Step 3. Re-apply a couple of anchor tapes over the loose ends of the stretchy tape and rub to help it to stick down well.

Get feedback from the athlete as to whether the tightness is right or not. Generally he should be able to easily raise the arm above his head, but feel tension/restriction/support when it gets there. It might take a few goes to get the tightness right, but with practice it gets a lot easier.

Please note, some people may have an allergic reaction to tape. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, take it off after one-two hours the first time you use it, and discontinue use if you notice signs of skin irritation. Consider using a hypoallergenic under-wrap tape if needed.

Pat Arnold is a director at Echuca Moama Physiotherapy and Kyabram Physiotherapy and Pilates. For an appointment with Pat, phone 5480 0860.

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