Kinesio Taping is NOT just for athletes!
Perhaps you have seen photos of athletes with that colorful tape on their arms, legs, ankles, shoulders and more. No this isn’t a new fashion trend, it is “Kinesio Tape”. This state-of-the-art development in sports medicine is NOT just for athletes. Kinesio tape can help YOU with pain, inflammation, edema, muscle tension . . . and more.
What Is Kinesio Tape?
Kinesio Tape – short for Kinesiology tape – is a stretchable, very thin elastic cotton strip with an acrylic adhesive backing. Therapeutic kinesiology tape (kinesio tape) when properly applied can benefit a wide variety of musculoskeletal issues, sports injuries, edema, inflammatory conditions and more.
Because Kinesio tape is almost identical in thickness and elasticity to human skin, it can comfortably be worn without any binding, constriction or restriction of movement.
Kinesio tape is different from and superior to traditional strapping tapes in many respects. Most strapping tapes are non-elastic, and are used to wrap an injured joint or muscle very tightly to offer rigid support as well as to restrict movement. Kinesio tape, however, is elastic and therefore provides protection while still allowing normal range of motion.
Additionally, traditional strapping tape can only be worn for short periods of time and then must be removed to restore circulation & movement. Kinesiology tape, however, allows most applications to be worn for 4-5 days, because it is non-restrictive. This allows the therapeutic benefits to be in effect 24/7 – rather than for limited bursts of time.
Kinesiology tape (kinesio tape) also has the advantage of being able to be worn during daily activities, intense exercise, sleeping and even showering, bathing or swimming. (It dries very quickly when blotted with a towel.)
What Can Kinesio Taping Help With?
- Acute Soft Tissue Injuries
- Muscle Strains, Ligament Sprains, Bruising
- Muscle Weakness
- Joint Alignment, Instability or Hypermobility
- Poor Posture: Round Shoulders, Slouched Spine
- Tendonitis
- Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis
- Swelling, Edema & Lymphoedema
- Many other muscle, bone, nerve or skeletal conditions
Kinesio Taping should always be done by a trained individual. If you are interested in trying Kinesio Taping for relief from an injury or illness, make an appointment with our Tarzana office here.
