No matter what kind of physically demanding activity we do, our hands and feet, especially their joints, get the most work. That is why we should protect them effectively. Elbows are also among the joints that are most prone to injury. Fortunately, there is a solution to mitigate the effect of a fall or impact. Yes, you guessed it right, these are the elbow pads that we are going to talk about now.

Internal protectors and external protectors

Elbow pads are among the protective elements of the equipment. It can at least partially absorb the impact, which would otherwise have a negative effect on our elbows. A dull pain in the elbow is definitely not pleasant. Not even the abrasion that could be caused by, for example, rubbing against a wall. But we could end up worse, for example with a broken arm. There are two types of elbow pads, inner protectors and outer protectors. While the outer ones are fastened through clothing, the inner protectors, like the inner knee protectors, require a special piece of clothing with an insert pocket.

External as a more common solution

A slightly more common solution is external elbow protectors, which, in addition to members of the military or police, are also used by athletes who regularly perform activities where there could be a risk of falling and resulting injuries. The outer protectors have straps with which we can attach them directly to the bare arm (if we have short sleeves) or over a sweatshirt or jacket. External elbow protectors are further divided into two types, namely fixed (non-adjustable) and adjustable. They are defined in this way according to how the straps are handled. In the first case you get protectors of a universal size, in the second case you can customize the size. The construction of the protector generally consists of several layers, with the outer one being a hard plastic shell that is able to absorb harder impacts. It is the "first line" protecting your elbow from mechanical damage. The main part of the outer elbow protector is then made of high-quality and durable nylon, in which a soft foam pad, neoprene or similar material is usually integrated. This is referred to as anti-shock. The anti-slip treatment then fixes the protector in place.

Inner protectors are more comfortable

Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to compare inner and outer elbow pads claims that the first ones are more comfortable. Their advantage is that they are placed directly in a special pocket in the elbows of a sweatshirt or jacket. And this is also a disadvantage - because you have to own such a special sweatshirt or jacket. Fortunately, at least with the tactical ones, compatibility with insert elbow protectors is no longer such a problem. Internal elbow pads are made of soft materials, often neoprene or a combination of nylon and padding. This results in the absence of a hard outer layer, so that such protectors then act as a separate anti-shock layer. On the market, we can also find variants with a hard shell, but they are significantly more expensive and, moreover, there is a relatively small selection in this category.