What’s that colourful tape that athlete’s wear? It’s Kinesiology Tape, which is a taping technique that helps your body’s natural healing process. It provides support and stability to joints and muscles. It’s latex-free and wearable for days at a time. It’s known as Kinesio-tape and it is used in paediatrics, geriatrics, and in sports medicine for elite athletes and Weekend Warriors.
What is the purpose? Kinesiology Tape is used to aid in the treatment of various orthopaedic conditions, and affects your body at the neuromuscular and neurological level. It offers support and stimulation to the area. The tension applied, along with the direction and length of the tape, allows the tape to re-educate the neuromuscular system by either promoting activation or inhibition of the desired muscles. This is determined through an assessment by an experiened practitioner.
Taping exhibits many positive effects on the skin, lymphatics, circulatory system, fascia, muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints. It promotes good circulation and healing, and you can see this for yourself with a neat little home experiment. Next time you have a bruise, place a strip of Kinesiotape over HALF of the bruise, and watch how that half heals significantly faster than the other.
What does it feel like? The tape itself is elastic and adhesive. When wearing it, it feels like it gives a bit of compression to the area, and helps “hold things where they need to be.” The tape is intended to be similar to the epidermis or top layers of skin. After 10 minutes or so, patients kind of forget the tape is there. It is breathable and porous just like the skin.
How long does it last? A single application of the tape usually lasts 3 to 5 days and because it is water resistant and quick-drying, its effectiveness is not diminished even during showers.
