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These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes. Table of Contents View All. Table of Contents. What Is Kinesiology Tape. What It Does. Types and Brands. Specific Uses. Does It Really Work? Kinesiology Tape Used to facilitate motion and inhibit pain Flexible Can improve circulation.
Athletic Tape Used for support and to limit motion Inflexible Decreases circulation. Your physical therapist can help you decide which tape is best for your specific condition. The bottom line: the jury is still out on kinesiology taping, and more work needs to be done.
Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. The holistic technology of kinesiology tape was developed to balance bodily health, endurance, and energy, without the use of medications or surgery.
Kinesiology views the body as machinery that is controlled by a complex computer — the brain — which constantly communicates with the hundreds of muscles and other tissues throughout the body.
Healthy muscles are balanced; unhealthy, overstressed muscles are imbalanced and weak. Kinesiology aims to maintain balance in the muscles and adjoining tissues, and one of the methods of doing this is by simply wrapping the muscles and surrounding tissues with the supportive material called kinesiology tape. Kinesiology tape is constructed of fine, breathable, stretchable material, usually cotton or a cotton blend. Its elasticity does not overly restrict the area of application, and it is designed to provide just enough pressure and support to facilitate strength in the muscles and tissues.
This tape adheres to the skin with a medically approved, water- and sweat-proof adhesive. It comes in latex-free and hypoallergenic varieties for people who may be allergic to latex. Some of the tape wound up on the right shoulder of US volleyball player Kerri Walsh. Despite still recovering from rotator-cuff surgery, Walsh won the gold that year with her partner Misty May-Treanor, and her signature look inspired thousands of physical therapists and sports-medicine specialists to suggest the tape for their patients.
There are more than a dozen brands of tape, many claiming they have designs that work better for specific sports or activities like swimming or strength training. Olympic track cyclist Dotsie Bausch says she wears kinesiology tape for days at a time instead of taking ibuprofen for her back pain. Modern kinesiology tape is about as elastic as our skin—meaning it barely prohibits movement—and has tiny pores, which allow sweat and water to escape from the skin.
Kinesiology tape can be worn for three to five days at a time, including in and out of showers. The question, though, is what kinesiology tape can do that regular tape cannot.
According to Harper, to reduce swelling from an injury or otherwise, you can apply kinesiology tape such that it pulls your skin, and the tissue under your skin, upwards. For example, you could tape your elbow while it is bent; then when you extend your arm, the skin at your elbow will wrinkle and form bunches that are gathered up by the tape. That causes protein filaments which play a role in structuring our tissue to become more active. They start to suck up extra fluid released by cells as a result of the injury.
This idea was tested in paywall on rabbits who were all given the same lab-induced injury sorry, guys , then given rabbit-grade physical therapy along with tape. Scientists tracked their healing process and found that the more tape over the injured site the more fluid drained. Since then, there has been some evidence a case study and a small trial involving women with extra swelling due to breast cancer-related lymph-node damage to suggest kinesiology tape is better at reducing swelling than traditional or no bandages.
But another slightly larger group study found that kinesiology taping was not as effective as compression-taping techniques at reducing swelling. It is believed that this helps to create a microscopic space between your skin and the tissues underneath it.
One small study with 32 participants showed that when kinesiology tape was applied over the knee, it increased the space in the knee joint. Lyman KJ, et al. Investigating the effectiveness of kinesio taping space correction method in healthy adults on patellofemoral joint and subcutaneous space. Effects of 3 different elastic therapeutic taping methods on the subacromial joint space. Some physical therapists think the tape changes the information your sensory nervous system is sending about pain and compression in your body.
Megann Schooley , board-certified clinical specialist in sports physical therapy and certified strength and conditioning specialist, explains it this way:. Kinesiology taping creates a lift that unloads the underlying tissues. Decompressing those tissues can change the signals going to the brain. Trigger points are a good example. Physical therapists have used kinesiology tape to lift the skin over these tense, knotted muscles. When the area is decompressed, pain receptors send a new signal to the brain, and tension in the trigger point decreases.
A study showed that trigger point pain was reduced and flexibility increased for people when kinesiology tape and manual pressure were used together. Chao YW, et al. Kinesio taping and manual pressure release: Short-term effects in subjects with myofasical trigger point. A study showed that kinesiology taping can improve blood flow in the skin. Craighead DH, et al. Kinesiology tape modestly increases skin blood flow regardless of tape application technique.
Lymphatic fluid is mostly water, but it also contains proteins, bacteria, and other chemicals. The lymphatic system is the way your body regulates swelling and fluid buildup. The theory is that when kinesiology tape is applied, it creates extra subcutaneous space, which changes the pressure gradient in the area underneath your skin. That change in pressure enhances the flow of lymphatic fluid. Studies have had mixed results.
In two recent studies, kinesiology tape reduced fluid buildup in women who underwent breast cancer treatment and people who had total knee replacements. Malicka I, et al.
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