Healthy muscles are critical to keeping occupational athletes’ bodies performing at their best. A strained or impinged muscle, tendon, or sprained ligament can easily make you work slower and less efficiently.Sometimes to aid in getting patients back to peak performance, Nova Medical Centers uses Kinesiology Tape. The main purposes of using kinesiology tape are to help support muscles and help heal and prevent muscle injury and improve circulation.
We asked one of our own Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioners, Dr. Anthony Cheung, PT, DPT, OCS, Cert. SMT, Cert. DN, CKTP, Director of Physical Therapy Professional Development for Nova Medical Centers, to elaborate for us, “Proposed benefits of Kinesiology Taping are to elicit positive physiological effects on the skin, lymphatic and circulatory system, fascia, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints through assisting the body in returning to homeostasis. Application of Kinesio Tape is commonly used for the purposes of neuromuscular re-education and the reduction of pain and inflammation.”
There are numerous brands of kinesiology tape, including Kinesio Tape and RockTape. Kinesio Tape was developed primarily for use by medical professionals and was later adopted by athletes. Kinesio Taping is designed to be latex-free and water resistant, so it can be worn for multiple days (usually between 3-5 days after application).
Kinesiology tape can come in a variety of lengths and shapes. An “I” strip is a straight cut, perpendicular to the length of the tape. Other cuts include “X,” “Y,” and even “fan” shapes. The instructions for the specific muscle group being treated indicate the shape needed.
Research studies have been conducted on the effects of Kinesio Taping for a vast amount of sports-related injuries, including patellofemoral pain, lateral epicondyalgia, ankle instability, and shoulder impingement.
According to Dr. Kenzo Kase, the developer of both the method and the first elastic therapeutic tape, Kinesio Tape, there are four major functions of Kinesio Taping. These functions drive the technology behind the tape:
• Supporting the muscle — Proper taping improves the muscle’s ability to contract even when it’s weakened, reduces a feeling of pain and fatigue, and protects the muscle from cramping, over-extension and over-contraction.
• Removing congestion to the flow of body fluids — Kinesiology tape improves blood and lymphatic circulation and reduces inflammation and excess chemical buildup in the tissue.
• Activating the endogenous analgesic system — “Endogenous” refers to something that is self-originating, and calling something “analgesic” means that it can relieve pain in a conscious person. So, this requirement means that the tape must facilitate the body’s own healing mechanisms, a central focus in chiropractic medicine.
• Correcting joint problems — The goal is improving range of motion and adjusting misalignments that result from tightened muscles.
To see some of Nova Medical Centers’ Physical Therapy Team’s Kinesiology Taping techniques, visit our YouTube channel’s Phase 1 playlist.
To see some of Nova Medical Centers’ Physical Therapy Team’s Kinesiology Taping techniques, visit our YouTube channel’s Phase 1 playlist.
