Although with the right training, conditioning, and diet, your body can perform above and beyond the call of duty, it is not a machine. Limbs get tired and ache, muscles become sore, and joints can become painful. Giving up and throwing in the towel is not an option, nor is neglecting a bruised and battered body. Kinesiology taping might be the natural solution you need to reduce muscle and joint pain and get you back on the winning track.
What is kinesio taping?
In the late 1970s, a chiropractor in Japan named Dr Kenzo Kase was frustrated by the fact that every time he used his healing hands to put one of his elderly arthritis patient’s joints into a less painful position, it wouldn’t stay that way when they returned home. In an attempt to fix the problem, he began to use standard-grade medical tape to fix the joint into a bearable position. Unfortunately, the tape’s stiffness and rigidity resulted in many patients not being able to use their joints at all. In others, it caused adverse effects such as skin rashes. The negatives of the existing tape far outweighed the positives, and Dr Kenzo sought an alternative solution.
The birth of a miracle
Alongside a team of product engineers, Dr Kenzo developed a tape that imitated all the qualities of human skin. Its flexibility enabled a wide range of motion, and its lightweight and hypoallergic qualities entailed it no longer caused a rash. For the past 40 years, kinesio tape has been used by elderly people, athletes, and surgeons, in the pursuit of one goal: to reduce muscle and joint pain and promote healing. If you’ve ever watched athletes on television and wondered what those strips of coloured tape pasted in patterns across their knees, backs, shoulders, and abs are, it’s kinesio tape.
How kinesiology taping works
Kinesiology taping works by tapping into the body’s reservoir of natural healing power. The therapeutic tape can be used strategically all over the body to reduce pain, ease swelling, give support, and enhance performance. Its blend of cotton and nylon means it is very stretchy and helps it to mimic human skin. Once applied, it slightly recoils and gently lifts your skin. This creates a microscopical but very beneficial space between your skin and the tissues that lie beneath. Studies show that increasing space in joints leads to a decrease in joint irritation.
Kinesio tape is also water resistant and can stay on for up to five days and survive numerous workouts and showers.
Kinesio taping’s wonder effects!
Many medical professionals also believe kinesio tape can have a positive effect on the way your body and mind respond to pain. Dr Megann Schooley, a board-certified clinical specialist in sports physical therapy and certified strength and conditioning specialist, explained that the sensory receptors on your muscle and skin that govern such things as pain, temperature, and touch can all be affected positively by kinesio taping. He said, “Those receptors all contribute to proprioception—your brain’s sense of where your body is and what it’s doing. Kinesiology taping creates a lift that unloads the underlying tissues. Decompressing those tissues can change the signals going to the brain. When the brain receives a different signal, it’s going to respond differently.”
Benefits of kinesiology taping in chiropractic care
As a natural way of helping the body to heal and improving blood circulation, kinesiology taping can also be used in chiropractic care. A spokesperson for the Lymington Chiropractic Clinic explained, “When we use the tape on our patients who present with injuries, I like to think it’s like putting on a ‘supporting hand’, just holding the area of injury and pain to provide a sense of comfort and sense of ease as the patient gets on with their day.”
So what are you waiting for? Isn’t it about time you joined the kinesiology taping revolution?
Schedule an appointment with Our Chiro Brisbane today to see how we can help.
Our Chiro Brisbane is a friendly, local chiropractic clinic serving Bowen Hills, Fortitude Valley, New Farm, Newstead, Teneriffe, and surrounding areas.
References:
https://kinesiotaping.com/about/our-president-and-founder/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28515980/
https://kinzo.org/en/articles/what-is-kinesiology-tape/
https://www.lymingtonchiro.co.uk/news/what-is-kinesiology-taping-and-who-does-it-help
