The most common reason for wrapping your thumb with medical tape is an injury, such as a sprain. Sometimes the finger is bent excessively backward while skiing or playing sports such as basketball, volleyball or rugby. When the thumb is forced to move wider than normal, the ligaments can tear more or less severely: severe sprains, for example, involve complete rupture of the tissues. The adhesive bandage prevents the finger from moving, protects it from other accidents and allows it to heal quickly. Athletes also use these bandages to prevent trauma.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Preparation
Step 1. Assess the severity of the injury
This type of bandage is useful for sprains, tears, or small dislocations, but it is not a good idea if the finger is fractured or there is an open wound. Sprains cause mild to moderate pain and are often accompanied by inflammation, redness, and bruising. A fracture or severe dislocation, on the other hand, causes a lot of pain, deformation of the finger and a very intense phlogistic reaction accompanied by internal bleeding (hematoma). These more serious injuries are not treatable with the adhesive bandage and should be immediately referred for medical attention, as a splint, cast and / or surgery is often required.
- Do not bandage your thumb if there is a major open wound. In this case, you need to wash the cut, apply pressure to stop or slow the bleeding, and wrap the wound in a tissue bandage (if possible) before going to the hospital for proper care.
- In the event of a sprain, the injured finger is generally bandaged together with the adjacent one, to offer it protection and stability; however, this technique is not possible with the thumb. If he were bandaged with his index finger, he would assume an unnatural position and could be injured again. Also, this solution may prevent you from using your index finger.
Step 2. Remove the hair from your finger
When you have determined that the type of injury can be treated with an adhesive bandage, take a safety razor and shave the entire area around the thumb and back of the hand (up to the wrist). This way, the adhesive adheres better to the skin and reduces the chances of irritation or pain when you need to remove the tape. Generally, it is recommended to shave the area 12 hours before applying the tape, to allow the skin to heal from the irritating action of the razor.
- Be sure to use shaving cream or other lubricant while shaving to reduce the risk of cuts and injuries.
- After shaving, the skin should be washed to remove traces of sebum, sweat and then dried with a clean cloth. Do not smear any moisturizer, otherwise the duct tape will not adhere.
- Alcohol wipes are perfect for this. In fact, isopropyl alcohol is not only an excellent antiseptic, but eliminates any greasy or oily residue that could interfere with the adhesive capacity of the bandage.
Step 3. Consider spraying your hand with spray adhesive
Usually, a good cleaning with soap and water or alcohol wipes is more than enough to allow the medical tape glue to adhere well. However, you can also use some spray adhesive for better results. Coat your wrist, palm, thumb and back of your hand with the product, then wait for it to dry and become slightly tacky. The spray adhesive better prepares the skin of athletes for the application of kinesiology tape, prevents sensitive skin from suffering trauma during removal and facilitates the latter.
- You can buy it in almost any pharmacy and even in orthopedics stores. It is not uncommon to find it in gyms and physiotherapy centers.
- Hold your breath as you spray the adhesive to prevent it from irritating your lungs, making you cough or sneeze.
Step 4. If you have sensitive skin, use a skin protector
While there are plenty of hypoallergenic medical tapes available, those with particularly delicate skin should wrap their thumb and hand with a first layer of skin protection. It is a material that does not cause allergic reactions, is soft and is designed to be applied under the kinesiology tape.
- Be careful not to wrap the skin too tightly, especially if you are diabetic or have circulatory problems. If you reduce the blood supply to your hand, you could cause tissue damage.
- Hypoallergenic protective bandages are on sale where you can find kinesiology tape and spray adhesive, then in pharmacies, orthopedics stores and gyms.
Part 2 of 2: Bandage
Step 1. First apply the anchor
Put the first strip of tape around the forearm, near the wrist, and a second strip on the tip of the thumb, near the distal knuckle. These pieces of tape are considered anchors that will support the bandage by offering points from which to start for the various bandaging techniques you can use. Before wrapping the forearm area, remember to place your hand and wrist in a neutral position: the wrist should be slightly extended backwards.
- Attach the anchors gently and carefully to avoid circulatory problems. If they were too tight, you should feel tingling in your hand and fingers, the limb would become cold to the touch and the skin would become bluish.
- It may be helpful to add an additional anchor near the base of the thumb. However, this can sometimes cause the entire structure to fail. If you only want to use one anchor around the wrist, it is often best to go with an 8-shaped bandage around the thumb.
- The best tape to use for the thumb is adhesive, water-repellent, rigid (non-elastic) tape with a width between 25 and 50 mm.
Step 2. Make a side loop
Once you have the anchors prepared, loop from the wrist / forearm side, around the base of the thumb, and back to the starting point. Make at least two side loops. Remember that your thumb must remain in a neutral position, about 30 degrees from the wrist, similar to the one it assumes when you have to shake another person's hand.
- If you need more support and stiffness, you can make three or four loops at the base of the thumb with kinesiology tape.
- The rings shouldn't pull your thumb back so far that you are in the "hitchhiker" position. Remember that the finger is very mobile due to the hyperextended ligaments, so try to bandage it in a resting position.
Step 3. Make a front loop
After fixing the side one, you will need to make a couple in the opposite direction, which are called "front loops". Just as the term suggests, for this step of the bandage you need to wrap the tape starting at the front of the wrist / forearm, wrap it around the thumb and return to the starting point. Make at least two front loops around the back of your thumb and then return the ribbon to your wrist. This will give the bandage more stiffness, if needed, and provide better support for the finger.
- An alternative method to get more stability is to take two 50mm long pieces of tape and wrap them over the rings. Cover from the point where the ring starts on the back of the hand to the fleshy part of the palm under the thumb. Take these strips of tape from the anchor to the first thumb ligament to give support to the muscles that attach the thumb to the hand.
- The adhesive bandage should only be applied if it is comfortable and does not cause major damage.
- The tape should not be wrapped too tightly, as it may interfere with the blood supply to the finger and cause tissue damage.
Step 4. Band the distal phalanx if it is dislocated
In the thumb there are two joints: the proximal one (near the palm of the hand) and the distal one (near the nail). The lateral and frontal rings are used to support the proximal joint, which is the one that is injured most frequently. However, if the distal knuckle has been traumatized, sprained or slightly dislocated, you can wrap it with a couple of strips of tape, which you will then attach to the finger anchor.
- When this ligament is also involved, make sure the tape holds your thumb as close to the rest of your hand as possible to avoid getting injured again.
- There is no need to wrap the distal knuckle, if the proximal one is dislocated, because you won't have great finger mobility anyway.
- Athletes who play certain sports, such as rugby or basketball, often wrap the distal knuckle of the thumb to prevent trauma.
Advice
- Check that you are not allergic to the bandage material or adhesive, as the irritation could worsen the inflammatory state of the finger. During an allergic reaction you may notice redness, itching and swelling of the skin.
- Once your thumb is bandaged, you can apply ice to it to help control the pain and swelling related to the sprain. However, don't leave the ice on for more than 15 minutes at a time.
- If you are careful while taking a bath and avoid soaking the bandaged thumb in water, the bandage can last up to 3-5 days before it needs to be replaced.
- When removing medical tape, use rounded-tipped scissors to minimize the risk of cutting yourself.
