Kinesio Taping: Olympic Trend, Pain Management Solution
Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation offers Kinesio Taping at our Red Bank office. Kinesio taping promotes faster healing time and increased success for rehabilitation.
If you have been paying attention to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, you may have noticed the brightly colored markings plastered on the bodies of some athletes.
You may have noticed these markings on the backs of synchronized swimmers. Or stretching down a beach volleyball player’s abs. Or maybe on the ankles of some Olympian runners. No, this is not a fashion statement or a bizarre attempt at intimidation. It’s actually just tape. But this is not just any kind of tape – it’s called Kinesio Tape, developed by Japanese Chiropractor Kenzo Kase in 1979.** For more than 25 years, Kinesio Taping has been breaking new ground in the fields of sports performance, pain management and physical therapy.
At Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation, we differ from other practices by incorporating the use of Kinesio Taping into our chiropractic care and rehabilitative therapy. Integrating Kinesio Taping has helped patients improve posture, support muscles, correct and stabilize joint problems, remove inflammation, and activate the body’s natural pain relievers. The benefits from Kinesio Taping techniques promote faster healing time and increased success in the training and rehabilitation phases of injuries.
We find Kinesio Taping to be a great tool in our office because it is another way we can promote natural healing. It was developed by a Chiropractor.** Chiropractors are, by definition, musculoskeletal experts. Kinesio Tape works to inhibit or strengthen muscles, depending on which way it is applied. If someone is having tightness in a certain muscle, our Chiropractors can apply Kinesio tape to prevent the constant action of the muscle. These tight muscles could be the cause of headaches and other types of pain.
Because so much attention has been given to the importance of muscle function, the idea was introduced to treat muscles in order to activate the body’s own healing process. Using an elastic tape, it was discovered that muscles and other tissues can be helped by outside assistance. Use of Kinesio Tape creates a totally new approach to treating nerves, muscles, and organs.
How does it work?
With this innovative method, Kinesio Tape is applied over muscles to reduce pain and inflammation, relax overused, tired muscles, and to support muscle movement on a 24 hour basis. It is a nonrestrictive type of taping that allows for full range of motion, making it more favorable than the use of athletic tape. Conventional athletic tape is restrictive and is typically taken off after the end of an athletic event. Athletic tape is often uncomfortable and frequently obstructs the body’s normal blood and lymphatic flow, resulting in negative side effects.
Kinesio Tape is designed to mimic the qualities of the skin. The thickness and stretch of the tape is very similar to the thickness and elastic qualities of the skin. The tape is able to stay on the skin and remain effective for 3-5 days. The tape’s elastic strands are wrapped by cotton fibers, permitting evaporation and quick drying, which means Kinesio tape can be worn while showering or swimming.
Kinesio Taping is another natural treatment method used at Monmouth Pain and Rehabilitation in conjunction with Pain Management, Chiropractic care and Physical Therapy. Call us today to learn how you can benefit from Kinesio Taping.
** Dr. Kenzo Kase (D.C.), currently based in Japan, developed Kinesio Tape and is the founder of the Kinesio Taping Association International located in the UK.
