I went to the first part of the Kinesio Taping course today. This is the stuff that you may remember seeing on many summer Olympic athletes in the Beijing games (including the beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh). It is useful for many different purposes, but just like anything, it is not useful for everyone/every condition. It was interesting to begin learning about the tape and some general applications, but tomorrow, I will get to learn a bit more about it in the 2nd portion of the course. I am very excited to get to actually use this on some of my patients once I get back to the clinic in another week! The top picture is of the course book, the second is one of the many taping jobs we practiced today. This particular taping is to facilitate the rhomboids, as in many patients with poor posture this muscle is stretched and weak. The tape helps to provide sensory input to utilize the muscle and improve posture (among other things, but this is a simple explanation).
For a general description of Kinesio Tape, the website says: "Theoretically, KINESIO TEX® TAPE will lift the skin to increase the space between the skin and muscle. This reduced localized pressure help promote circulation, lymphatic drainage and lessens the irritation on the subcutaneous neural pain receptors. As an end result, the Kinesio® Taping Technique reduces pain, swelling and muscle spasm; and subsequently promotes the body’s natural healing processes. Additionally, the built-in stretch of the TAPE supports fatigued, weakened and/or strained muscles."
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