We have all seen athletes during the Olympics or at sporting events who are wearing athletic kinesiology tape. Taping is utilized in sports and everyday life to alleviate pain while still allowing you to continue your everyday activities or athletics. This is a method of using kinesiology tape for functional movement taping. Functional movement taping helps to naturally heal and give the muscle support to give the patient better range of motion.
Kinesiology taping can offer structural or muscle support, blood flow, assist in correcting fascial lines, and decrease pain and swelling. When properly applied, the tape alleviates discomfort and facilitates lymphatic drainage and increasing blood flow by lifting the skin away from the muscle and fascia, which decompresses the area to reduce swelling and inflammation while enabling a more effective flow of blood and lymphatic fluid in and out of the affected area.
Functional movement tape is applied when the muscle is in a flexed position, allowing the muscle to stretch. When the body returns to its resting state, the kinesthetic tape will create convolutions of the skin, lifting the skin off of the muscle and soft tissue to create a pathway for blood and lymphatic fluid to flow. Blood is the ultimate healer of the body, so allowing more blood to hydrate the muscle and soft tissue, the faster you will feel pain relief and muscle relaxation.
At McBrearty Chiropractic in Canton, OH all of our corrective exercise rehab specialists are multi certified through Rock Tape in functional movement taping. Functional movement taping can be applied to help correct posture, for the majority of our patients who sit at a desk for the majority of the day for work. When posture tape is applied from the front of the sternum to back toward the scapula, it allows for an unconscious reminder to the patient to sit tall and not to slouch. Functional movement taping can be applied to help relieve plantar fasciitis, tennis and golfers elbow, lower back pain, and knee pain. We also utilize kinesiology tape to help alleviate swelling and lymphatic drainage for patients with swollen extremities through a series of cross hatching with the tape.
Kinesiology tape is waterproof, sweat resistant and stays applied until taken off. The tape typically stays on three to five days, but can last longer or shorter depending on the area applied. Higher traction areas like feet and hands the tape tends to wear away faster due to the daily use and wear and tear of those appendages. It is easiest to remove the tape when it is still wet, right outside of the shower or pool. Tape should never be ripped off “like a band aid”. The proper removal of tape is to slowly peel the tape off parallel to the skin, while gently holding down your skin that you are tearing the tape away from. Always make sure no lotions or oils are on the skin before applying tape, due to it interfering with the ability for the tape to accurately stick to the skin.
Come visit us at McBrearty Chiropractic so that we can help with your pain. Contact us online by visiting our website at www.yourartdoc.com or by calling us at 330-491-0381.