Kinesio® Tape is a latex free, hypoallergenic, elastic therapeutic tape, designed to treat a variety of neuromuscular, orthopaedic, lymphatic, neurological and other medical conditions.
The particular way it is applied is determined by your need at the time of treatment. It can range from muscle activation or deactivation, to oedema management, decreased inflammatory response and increased proprioception (your body’s ability to sense itself in space via joint positions), to improvement of joint biomechanics and alignment, fascial and scar tissue release.
Results can include decreased pain, increased blood and lymph flow, increased control over muscle contractions, joint stability, and ultimately faster healing.
How is it applied?
Firstly a clinical evaluation or assessment is completed to fully understand what your body will need in terms of support. These findings dictate the cut of the tape, the direction it is applied and how much stretch will be used. You may have one piece of tape, or multiples, depending on the findings of the assessment.
A good mantra for Kinesio® Tape is “Less is Better”. While you may think you need more, less will make a more significant difference that your body can respond to.
Kinesio® Tape can be worn 24 hours a day for 3 to 5 continuous days. You can shower, bathe and swim with it on (but be careful to pat it dry as if you are in the water for a long time it will be less adhesive).
Sometimes I will use fixomull, a hypoallergenic tape, to fix the ends down, especially if you are super active, or going to be super sweaty. This has no therapeutic benefit, it is purely there to extend the life of your tape.
It can be applied during any phase of injury as it can be clinically utilized to initially reduce inflammation and progress through all phases of rehabilitation.
Kinesio® Tape is not just for elite sports people. I use it on everyone who needs a bit more support. Its like sending them out the door with my hands still attached.
Are there any side effects?
Kinesio® Tape is hypoallergenic, I have yet to meet someone who has reacted to it. But if you are a super sensitive person a patch test may be done first.
Whilst not technically a side effect – if you pull the tape off, rather than slide it off along the skin, it may take some skin with it, and leave a mild rash. Generally, your hairs are safe – unless you pull it off in the direction against the hair growth. But you should still have more left than using the old brown rigid sports tape.
Wearing the tape in the sun could cause a tan line (just like having anything else covering the skin). Keep this in mind if you are outdoors and don’t want an uneven tan.
But why don’t I just use the stuff from the supermarket or chemist and use Youtube to help me apply it?
Firstly, Kinesio® Tape is one of the most hypoallergenic tapes on the market and the adhesive used is the best around. A lot of the tapes have printing (logos or pictures) on them. The adhesive does not adhere fully to where the ink from the printing is, resulting in poor performance of the tape, and/or the adhesive is cheap and nasty and can cause some significant skin irritations.
Youtube is a fantastic resource for a lot of things. But do you know your body? Do you fully understand the way the muscle fibres run, or the action of the muscles? Are you sure it is a muscle you need to tape – what about ligaments and tendons? Do you know how to muscle test to ensure the tape will be applied in the right way?
Kinesio® Tape can be applied in many many many different ways for each muscle, ligament or tendon. A sound clinical understanding of the body is needed so you can apply the tape in the most effective way your body needs at this point and time.
I have met many people who have told me Kinesio® Tape doesn’t work because they brought some cheap imitation from somewhere, followed Youtube or another websites advice and it made it worse, or they used it for months and nothing changed. I convince them to give it another go and apply it using sound clinical reasoning, and they are astounded by the results; reduction in pain, increased range of motion, decreased swelling etc.
Remember Kinesio® Tape is not the same as the brown rigid sports tape. You don’t apply it the same and you certainly don’t need as much of it. Less is More!