What is Kinesiology Taping?
Kinesiology tape (or K-Tape) has become increasing popular recently. It is adhesive (and usually nice and colourful!) tape which your therapist will apply directly to your skin to help alleviate pain.
There are three main reasons when K-Tape is used: injury prevention, injury treatment and performance enhancement. On its own – it will not heal your injury. Your therapist will apply the tape in a way that will reduce stress and load on certain structures such as tendons or ligaments.
How does Kinesiology Taping work?
When applied correctly, K-Tape reduces the load on painful tissues which allows you to move pain free. It does this by pulling on the skin, which in turn pulls on the underneath fascia and pulls it slightly to ease the pain.This is a huge help if you are currently undergoing treatment which includes exercise rehabilitation, and your basic exercises are sometimes too painful to complete.
The tape is flexible but also water resistant so you can easily move, and it can be used during sport and exercises where you would be sweating, and also in water. Therefore, it can be also used just to take the edge of pain off during sport. For instance, if you are generally fine during a certain set .of exercises/sport – but the last 5-10 minutes the pain seems to kick in.
Can Kinesiology Taping help me - and what should I expect?
Of course. It is important to recognise that K-Tape is a short term fix and you should look for other forms of treatment to work towards proper healing of your injury.
Your therapist will use specific tape, and tape in certain direction dependant on the injury and where the pain its. Your mobility will be checked after application to ensure you can still fully move the joint. The tape may feel quite tight after application, but in the space of a few hours this should ease. You can have your tape on for 2-4 days depending on the activities you participate in, then it is likely to naturally peel off.
See here for pricing. Can also be paired with other treatments into a longer session. Call 07791133473 or contact for more information and bookings.
