Hot search! Quan Hongchan: Spend half an hour tying bandages before diving! What are bandages for?

Review expert: Wang Xuejiang, professor of pathophysiology, Capital Medical University, doctoral supervisor . Now I spend half an hour tying the bandage before diving. " Afterwards, the topic #Quan Hongchan spends half an hour tying the bandage before diving due to strain# became the number one hot search.

Her coach He Weiyi mentioned that at the last Tokyo Olympics, Quan Hongchan only had a bandage on one part of her body, but due to years of injuries and strain, she had support bands on many parts of her body at the Paris Olympics.

So, what exactly is a bandage? Is it the same as the bandage we use to bandage wounds in our daily lives? What is the use of a bandage?

What exactly are the “bandages” on athletes ?

In this Paris Olympics, we can see that athletes in many events have bandages all over their bodies.

The "bandages" worn by athletes are actually kinesiology tape , commonly referred to as "muscle tape."

In the 1970s, Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kase invented the muscle tape with the original intention of designing "a new type of tape that imitates the elasticity of human skin".

The muscle patch is mainly composed of drug-free waterproof stretch fabric, medical acrylic glue and backing paper .

Its elastic material and acrylic adhesive surface enable the muscle patch to simulate the skin, which helps the muscle patch provide the body with vertical "vertical stress" and horizontal "shear force" from different directions, which can pull up the skin or subcutaneous tissue, thereby achieving the ideal therapeutic effect.

In addition, the muscle tape uses hypoallergenic medical acrylic glue instead of latex, so people with sensitive skin can tolerate it to a certain extent.

Olympics: An “exchange conference” for muscle tape?

The large-scale promotion of muscle tape still depends on the holding of the Olympic Games .

At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Japanese national team used muscle tape for the first time, making more people aware of the existence of muscle tape.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, high-level athletes from 58 countries used Kinesiology taping technology. As the Olympics received more and more attention and television broadcasting technology became increasingly mature, Kinesiology taping took advantage of the "east wind" of the Olympics to expand its promotion scope. Since then, it has been known and used by more ordinary people and has become truly popular.

Do you really understand muscle tape?

Kinesiology tape is not exclusive to the Olympics or athletes. As ordinary people, we can also use kinesiology tape in our daily exercise to achieve better exercise results, but do you really understand kinesiology tape?

Different shapes, different functions

Depending on the different methods of muscle taping, muscle taping is usually divided into six types: type I muscle taping, Y-type muscle taping, X-type muscle taping, and lantern-type . Different types have different functions.

Muscle patch ≠ plaster! Need to use it correctly!

Kinesiology patches and plasters have extremely similar appearances, so many people assume that kinesiology patches are plasters, but this perception is actually wrong.

The first thing you need to know is that plasters are medicines. General plasters contain medicinal ingredients, which penetrate into the inside through the skin, thereby playing a role in reducing swelling and relieving pain. However, muscle patches generally do not contain medicinal ingredients. They help muscles contract and relax from a physical perspective, thereby playing a role in relieving pain and relieving edema.

1. Pain relief

The muscle patch acts on the skin surface and superficial fascia, increasing the input of tactile afferent fibers, reducing the stimulation of mechanical receptors, raising the pain threshold, and thus achieving the effect of relieving pain.

2. Improve swelling and venous function, and promote lymphatic circulation

Increase the intercellular space between the skin and subcutaneous connective tissue, promote fluid exchange in the tissue layer, promote blood and lymph circulation, and reduce edema.

3. Regulate muscle tension and improve muscle strength

Kinesiology tape can be used to regulate muscle tension. When the kinesiology tape is applied from the starting point of the muscle to the insertion point, it can promote muscle contraction and increase strength. At the same time, it can also be applied from the insertion point of the muscle to the starting point, which can promote muscle stretching and prevent muscle contracture.

4. Increase proprioception

Kinesiology tape can enhance sensory input and achieve the purpose of regulating nerve and skeletal muscle activity.

5. Improve movement and correct posture

Kinesiology tape improves the imbalance between agonist and antagonist muscles, promotes muscle movement awareness, helps rebuild fascia and muscle function, and achieves fascia and mechanical correction effects.

From the Olympic Games to daily exercise, muscle tape is not only an auxiliary tool to improve sports performance and promote injury recovery, but also a reflection of people's concern and care for their own health and athletic ability . I hope that we can enjoy health while enjoying sports.