Let's talk Ear Taping.
If you play rugby, watch rugby or happen to be walking through the park when your local side is playing, odds are you've probably seen a player with some tape wrapped around their head before. Aside from making you look tougher, that's used to protect a player's ears during a game.
Cauliflower ears are a real thing and we want to help ensure that you can avoid them for as a long as possible. Here's how you can tape your ears and stay protected for a full 80.
WHAT IS CAULIFLOWER EAR?
You may have heard it referred to as wrestler's ear, or if you prefer the scientific terms of things, auricular hematoma. But, the majority of you rugby players will call it cauliflower ear.
It's a pretty common injury in rugby, and other high contact sports. It typically occurs when the ear experiences some sort of blunt force trauma. If you've not seen what it looks like before, then just imagine your ear has been stung by a wasp. Swollen, lumpy and slightly shrivelled.
The goal is to stop this from occurring. Let's take a look at how that can be done.
HOW TO TAPE YOUR EARS FOR RUGBY
Different rugby players and physios will tape ears in different ways. Some will wrap it around the head and some might just tape the ears individually. It's definitely a preference thing, but the building blocks of each remains the same.
First things first, we need to work out exactly what we're going to be using.
WHAT TAPES MIGHT YOU USE?
Tear EAB - Elastic Adhesive Bandage is the most versatile rugby tape in your kitbag. It's regularly used to strap lifting blocks to your leg, but is probably the first choice when it comes to ear taping.
Fixation Tape - 'Fix' Tape is strong, breathable and super sticky. It’s quickly becoming an essential tape for every rugby club therapist’s kitbag also. Using this on ears is very much a preference thing, but it's still worth discussing.
Sock Tape - Shock, this tape is designed to help keep your playing socks up, but that doesn't mean that's all it can do. Sock Tape can be used to keep your applications in place, like Lifting Blocks and, in this case, your ears.
FULL HEAD WRAP APPLICATION
Step 1
Take your 5cm Tear EAB and begin to wrap it around your head so that it's covering your whole ear (some people make sure it's only covering half of their ear). Wrap it 3-4 times around and then rip it with your fingers.
Remember to make sure you don't wrap it too tight or you could restrict some blood flow.
Step 2
Take your Sock Tape and wrap that around your head twice over the top of your EAB Tape to add some stability to the application.
This is how it should look...
SINGLE EAR APPLICATION
Step 1
Very simply, take your 5cm Fixation Tape and measure it along the length of your ear. Cut your tape and peel off the backing paper.
Step 2
Place the tape over your ear, pressing it down as you do so.
This is a very simple application that might have seen players like Alun-Wyn Jones do on a number of occasions. For those of you who don't like wrapping your whole head, this is the one for you.
This is how it should look...
These really simple taping techniques could make all the difference on the rugby pitch and ensure that your ears remain cauliflower-free.
If you're a rugby player and have any other questions for us, or you want to learn more about any of our rugby tapes, feel free to get in touch!
