Kinesiotaping
Posted by Ethan on Friday, August 22nd, 2008
It’s called kinesiotaping. It’s been around for ages, but it seems to have just found its way into mainstream professional sports. If you’ve been watching the Olympics, then you’ve probably seen a number kinesiotaped athletes. It has a number of uses that range from helping circulation and lymph flow to regulating body temperature. Ultimately, most athletes use it to prevent overuse or over-contraction of muscles as well as provide increased joint stability.
2x Gold medalist Kerry Walsh with kinesiotaped shoulder.
It is designed to work ‘with’ the muscles and joints where as the typical athletic taping provides a stiff, rigid support to joints. Studies have shown that the stability provided by traditional ankle taping is negligible after only 5+ minutes of use. Odd, that doesn’t stop every football team in America from taping every single ankle on the team before every practice. On the other hand, kinesiotaping provides no limit to ROM; however, there is no research available to either support or negate the proponents of this technique.
It’s amazing how something that has been around for 25+ years can still be so underutilized and unresearched. It’s more sad than anything else. I can’t help but feel that kinesiotaping is simply another revolution by Eastern medicine that has been steadily ignored by stubborn Western practitioners. I find that odd in this case because kinesiotaping is far less ‘touchy-feely’ than massage and muscular therapy and it has no where near the spiritual foundation of acupuncture. Needless to say, I’ve had countless athletes find great success in both of these domains when Western medicine alone failed them.
Sadly, kinesiotaping is not a realistic option for the average college athlete. So don’t go running off to your AT demanding the latest taping revolutions. Not only does it require a certification course, but the tape itself sells for about $15 per roll. The tape has a higher tensile strength than traditional athletic tape, but that is a bit pricey for even the wealthiest of athletic departments. Especially when it’s effects are temporary at best with highly active athletes. You’ll notice that Kerry Walsh was rarely able to finish an entire match with her taping still in place. It is better suited for throwers or jumpers who only need to be in action for one big effort.
All that being said, as a senior in college, my athletic trainer put together a crude version of kinesiotaping to help alleviate a nagging knee injury. At the time we called it ‘medical duct tape,’ but it did the trick. Results of kinesiotaping are mixed (like everything involving sports and humans). Some people swear by it while others have tried it with no benefit.
Regardless, it isn’t some sort of voodoo that has athletes clutching at straws. It’s principles are rooted in anatomy, kinesiology, and physiology. Simply looking at it logically with an open mind, one has to say that it has potential. I wonder if the media coverage of the Beijing Games will be enough to bring it all the way into America’s medical repertoire?
Filed in Science of XC / T & F |
Bromkaon 25 Aug 2008 at 9:26 am 1I started hearing about this recently, but Walsh is certainly the most high profile case I’ve seen. A woman at my office ran Boston this spring with the taping on her calves and she swears that she had only slight muscle pain the next day, at BOSTON! That’s enough to make someone try it right there. The hilarious part was that because it was a sunny day this Patriots’ day she had funny tan lines on her legs for a week or two. This certainly begged the question by many people and spread the gospel of kenesiotaping.
McClearyon 03 Sep 2008 at 6:23 am 2I’d like to read the studies that say taping is only effective for the first 5 minutes. I remember playing soccer in high school and I injured the tendon that runs from the bottom of my shin to the top of my foot. I used tape to stabilize and immobilize that area and it felt like it was working the entire game. Couldnt have played otherwise.
Maybe it was all mental and that tape provided stability only until that tendon warmed up.
Erika Rimeson 16 Jul 2009 at 5:08 pm 3I have just discovered Kinesiotaping and i must say it sounds great for what i have. I have ordered some tape online (no stores in Australia seem to sell it).
I believe it all depends on the injury and where you are in recovery and what sport you do and what level you do that sport at - it depends on the person.
I recently got over ITB and then after that a few weeks recovery from runner’s knee. Im no major athlete and of course these two injuries where from running too much too soon. Big lesson learn’t. I was lucky to be able to just rest unlike most serious athletes.
My physio relieved the knee pain from runner’s knee by McConnell taping - and in 3 days pain was relieved. However i had to rest and now i am doing strength exercises and pain is all gone.
However, i am eager to start exercising again (swimming, walking, runnning) and i do feel i still need some support while im getting better. My quads do get tired easily and i need some extra support. Rigid taping doesn’t seem like the trick. So Kinesiotaping seems to be a great option to try as well as still doing my strength exercises.
So i believe it depends on the individuals situation. Physio might work, kinesiotaping might work, doctor might help, acupuncture might work….can’t rule out anything.
I’ve learnt to be open-minded but also to really listen to your body, and make sure you take care of it. Otherwise you’ll just be working against your body rather than with it!