# Bands on arms of football players?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 14, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709 "2005-01-14T14:21:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/1 "2005-01-14T14:21:27Z")
I think I’ve seen them on basketball players, too. They look like narrow sweatbands, maybe an inch or two wide, and the players hve them pulled up to just below the elbow. I can’t figure out what they’re for. They look too insubstantial to provide support for the elbow joint. Anyone know what they are? I’m hoping they’re not just decoration.
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### Author:  [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/2 "2005-01-14T14:26:32Z")
American or proper football? If the latter, it is likely the captain’s armband you’ve seen, although occasionally _all_ the players wear a black one as a mark of respect for some recent event, such as the death of someone associated with the club.
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### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/3 "2005-01-14T14:28:59Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#):
>
> American or proper football? If the latter, it is likely the captain’s armband you’ve seen, although occasionally _all_ the players wear a black one as a mark of respect for some recent event, such as the death of someone associated with the club.
Sorry. American football.
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### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/4 "2005-01-14T14:34:39Z")
Here’s a [picture](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/bowls/2004/) of a guy wearing them. The Sooner, number 42.
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### Author:  [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/5 "2005-01-14T14:58:01Z")
> [@doomraisin](#):
>
> Sorry. American football.
If you’re referring to NFL’s Randy Moss, they’re called moon bands, but he wouldn’t be wearing them on his arms.😃
It looks to me like they are support thingys for the elbow joint. I see them more in sports that can have “tennis elbow” type complaints and are also wore near the knees. Some people swear by them, but it looks to me like they would be about as (un)successful as those nose bandaides for better breathing.
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### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/6 "2005-01-14T15:04:28Z")
> [@aahala](#):
>
> If you’re referring to NFL’s Randy Moss, they’re called moon bands, but he wouldn’t be wearing them on his arms.😃
>
> It looks to me like they are support thingys for the elbow joint. I see them more in sports that can have “tennis elbow” type complaints and are also wore near the knees. Some people swear by them, but it looks to me like they would be about as (un)successful as those nose bandaides for better breathing.
I kind of figured maybe that was it, but a quick search didn’t yield anything that looked like that. I saw a lot of wider, obviously more supportive types of elbow wraps. Those little bands don’t look like they could do much to help. I think they’re more like a fashion accessory. I could be wrong - maybe they’re more effective than they look.
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### Author:  [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/7 "2005-01-14T15:14:28Z")
doomrasin, you very well could be correct they’re just decoration.
The kind of things I’m talking about I’ve never seen in colors, but they are elastic material about the diameter of a pencil.
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### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/8 "2005-01-14T15:22:14Z")
> [@aahala](#):
>
> doomrasin, you very well could be correct they’re just decoration.
>
> The kind of things I’m talking about I’ve never seen in colors, but they are elastic material about the diameter of a pencil.
Do they look like [this?](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/bowls/2004/)
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Crunchy_Crunch)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/9 "2005-01-14T15:45:11Z")
The same reason some people have tatoos, they look cool (to them).
In Football, they serve no useful purpose. In Basketball, some players use them to wipe off sweet.
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### Author:  [@Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Crunchy_Crunch)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/10 "2005-01-14T15:47:07Z")
:smack:
Err a, that would be **sweat** , not sweet. Sweet Sweat, yeah, that’s it. 😉
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### Author:  [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/11 "2005-01-14T15:53:41Z")
> [@aahala](#):
>
> Some people swear by them, but it looks to me like they would be about as (un)successful as those nose bandaides for better breathing.
\
Those nose bandaids or (brand name) BreathRight strips are a godsend. Not that I need or use them for exercise, but I do have some slight breathing/snoring issues at night, and use them to sleep with. My wife reports they do reduce the amount of snoring that I do. I can report that I can a) Get to sleep much easier, as I can breath, b) no longer need to use Afrin or similar products to clear my nose (except for fighting bad colds), and c) I wake up with a much clearer nose (I assume it’s because I have not been vibrating the tissue in the nose all night.)
\
As for the OP, some of the other posters have it right, it’s to treat and support some types of ligament/tendon issues related to joint movement.
-Butler
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### Author:  [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/12 "2005-01-14T15:57:20Z")
They could be house arrest monitors. 😉
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/13 "2005-01-14T16:14:01Z")
It basically absorbs the shock and vibration of the tendons over the elbow. Here’s some info on one particular brand.
[http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis\_strap.htm](http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis_strap.htm)
You’d be suprised how much pain relief you can get from such a small, simple little strap!! The ones you see right below the knees are doing practically the same thing. Someone with runner’s knee or (like my brother) Osgood Slaughter’s will tell you that the pain can be unbearable at times without the buttress straps.
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### Author:  [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/14 "2005-01-14T16:31:21Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> It basically absorbs the shock and vibration of the tendons over the elbow. Here’s some info on one particular brand.
> [http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis\_strap.htm](http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis_strap.htm)
>
> You’d be suprised how much pain relief you can get from such a small, simple little strap!! The ones you see right below the knees are doing practically the same thing. Someone with runner’s knee or (like my brother) Osgood Slaughter’s will tell you that the pain can be unbearable at times without the buttress straps.
Patellar tendonitis, too. I don’t know _how_ a little, slightly stiffened strap under my knee does work, but I can very definitely say it does.
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### Author:  [@doomraisin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doomraisin)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/15 "2005-01-14T18:07:57Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#):
>
> It basically absorbs the shock and vibration of the tendons over the elbow. Here’s some info on one particular brand.
> [http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis\_strap.htm](http://bracesupport.com/hely-weber/tendonitis_strap.htm)
>
> You’d be suprised how much pain relief you can get from such a small, simple little strap!! The ones you see right below the knees are doing practically the same thing. Someone with runner’s knee or (like my brother) Osgood Slaughter’s will tell you that the pain can be unbearable at times without the buttress straps.
Yeah, that makes sense, but the ones [this](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/ncaa/specials/bowls/2004/) guy is wearing are way thinner. I can’t find any for the elbow that look like that. Are they wearing the ones for the knee by their elbows?
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/16 "2005-01-14T18:43:10Z")
Most likely. It looks like a standard Cho-Pat strap to me. Knee-type tendon injuries are much more common, so the team’s trainer is likely to have tons of those straps laying around. They’re pretty much Sports Medicine’s generic fix-all strap. Plus, being thinner, it doesn’t hinder movement as much as those large thick ones.
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### Author:  [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-on-arms-of-football-players/284709/17 "2005-01-14T21:57:29Z")
> [@butler1850](#):
>
> \
>
> Those nose bandaids or (brand name) BreathRight strips are a godsend. Not that I need or use them for exercise, but I do have some slight breathing/snoring issues at night, and use them to sleep with. My wife reports they do reduce the amount of snoring that I do. I can report that I can a) Get to sleep much easier, as I can breath, b) no longer need to use Afrin or similar products to clear my nose (except for fighting bad colds), and c) I wake up with a much clearer nose (I assume it’s because I have not been vibrating the tissue in the nose all night.)
>
> \
\
I use those BreathRight strip mountain climbing. At high elevations, they can make an enormous difference in the amount of oxygen you get out of a regular breath.
\