Thursday, November 13, 2008

A-C Joint Unloading


A.T.'s love to tape, & I'm no exception. This athlete has a grade 1 acromioclavicular sprain. The technique often provides pain relief in the acute stages of the injury. In addition, an athlete with this injury finds it difficult to run because of the bouncing that goes along with it. With this technique, conditioning can usually be continued while the shoulder is healing. It also provides some resistance to horizontal adduction, the most painful arm movement with this injury.


It's easy:

1. Liberally spray the area with an adherent.

2. Apply 2" wide coverroll stretch tape (or similar) (9" is usually good) from the mid lateral delt to just higher than mid trap.

3. Apply a second piece (8" is usually good) bisecting the joint anterior to posterior.

4. Have the athlete bend the elbow of the affected side 90 degrees, and get an assistant to hold it so the arm is weightless.

5. Apply leukotape (or similar) caudal to cephalad, firmly pulling so that the skin wrinkles.

6. Apply a second piece to directly over the AC joint, depressing the distal clavicle.


The tape will usually stay on 2 days, as long as they don't spend too long in the shower. Instruct them to blot it with some paper towel or toilet paper after they get get out.

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