Have you ever seen footballers or athletes with brightly coloured tape stuck to their body? That is Kinesio Tape.
Kinesio tape is used for lots of different reasons but primarily to help an area feel or function better.
It might be used to support a joint, to ease pain, to activate a kinetic muscle chain, to inhibit or enhance a movement range or even to reduce swelling.
Invariably in my practice, I use to to help unload pressure on a specific area that is either feeling uncomfortable or painful.
I also use it to provide sensory feedback when you’re trying to change a movement or posture habit.
Kinesio tape can act as an early sensory warning that you’ve slipped back into your old habit.
The great thing about kinesio tape is, it’s just that, tape.
If it helps, fantastic! If it doesn’t we just take it off and bin it. Simple.
Sometime taping can bring near miraculous results with instant pain relief.
Other times it might do absolutely nothing, in which case we’ve lost nothing.
But, usually it gives good results that are sometimes long lasting and other times temporary.
Either way, it’s a great tool which can be extremely useful to improve how you feel and function.
Using Kinesio Tape
Tape is best applied to clean skin with little or no massage wax on the skin.
So if I know we’re going to use it I will reduce the amount of lotion or wax used in that area.
It’s worth remembering, just like anything else applied to the skin there is always the possibility you could be allergic to the glue used.
However it’s extremely unlikely for most people to have a reaction especially if you don’t have reactions to other things like plasters.
If it’s something you’d like to try, mention it at the beginning of your session.
If it’s appropriate and could be helpful, we can incorporate it into your treatment.
