How to Strap Your Knee After Injury

Strapping the knee is one of the best ways to quickly stabilise the joint, whether it’s before you start playing sport or to prevent an injury from getting worse. Trying to search for a video of how to strap your knee after injury brings up dozens of different techniques, some simple some complicated. So, we've pulled together some tips to help you when strapping your knee. 

Strapping the knee

Most athletes, professional and amateur, have strapped their knees more than once. Many of us have had it done at the physio and then tried to emulate it at home (sometimes with disastrously adhesive results). 

Rather than just adding another video of how to strap, we thought we’d strip strapping back. So in addition to a couple of simple methods to strap, we’ll show you a few other ways of supporting the knee to get the same effect.

These methods are great for people who have an allergic reaction to strapping tape, require support all day, or are just tired of the constant Elastoplast waxing.

How to strap your knee after injury

Knee strapping is the quickest and most common way of stabilising the knee while playing sports. There are a range of strapping methods designed to target different parts of the knee, the below are two of the most common techniques for strapping knee:

• Patella Tracking Strapping: Anchoring your patella tendon to reduce the strain on it and allow for more comfortable movement forwards and backwards while reducing pain. This is usually done for runners, hikers and track events.
• Knee Ligament Strapping: Creating a “frame” around your knee with tape, this technique stabilises the ligaments to reduce rotation movement on the knee. This is more common in sports like football, netball and soccer where pivoting and side to side movements are more common.

Strapping with tape is quick and easy, and great for sports, providing an incredibly firm stability. However, it doesn’t stay in place for extended periods of time and can be uncomfortable if it needs to be applied repeatedly, so its best not used for all-day wear.

This video provides a detailed explanation: how to strap the knee. 

Wrapping the knee

Where strapping uses adhesive tape to guide the knee in active movement, wrapping the knee provides a widespread compression to broadly stabilise the knee as a whole, and is much more effective at managing swelling.

Best done with a cohesive bandage (one that doesn’t stick to your skin), wrapping the knee is great for recovery from an injury for wear all day. This is a great alternative for people who have an allergic reaction to strapping tape or are looking to mainly manage swelling.  

Wrapping is cheaper than taping and better for swelling and recovery, however, it’s not ideal during sport unless combined with strapping tape over the top, and wrapping won’t provide the same stability as taping.

Try this video for a detailed explanation: how to wrap the knee. 

Wearing a knee support

A knee support takes the same principles as wrapping and combines it with strapping to stabilise and compress the muscles, while providing structural support to the joint.

Supports, such as the GenuTrain and GenuTrain S provide a couple of distinct advantages in that they’re easy to put on and off, can be worn during sports as well as all day, and provide comfort during recovery.

While not providing as strong a level of initial support as strapping tape does, it lasts much longer and is great for repeated wear.

For more on the GenuTrain, try this video: GenuTrain.

And, for more on the GenuTrain S, try this video: GenuTrain S.

For assistance selecting the right product for your needs, book a video consultation with a Bauerfeind expert: Book Video Call, or call us on 1300 668 466.

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Bauerfeind products are developed at our innovation and manufacturing facility in Zeulenroda, Germany. Based on years of scientific research, our award-winning braces and support garments are highly recommended by medical professionals and athletes worldwide.