about kinesiology tape

Trusted by many professional and competitive athletes, kinesiology tape complements and reinforces the manual therapy you are receiving. These non-medical options are great for managing musculoskeletal pain and injuries, as well as optimizing movement to improve performance.

Fascia is a connective tissue between the skin and muscles that affect all of your body systems. Injuries or repetitive strain (such as sitting all day) causes the fascial layer to become compressed and stuck together.

When these fascial tissues can’t glide properly over one another, receptors in your skin and fascia can send faulty signals to your brain. As a result, you may become hesitant to avoid certain movements, which in turn may lead to making compensations.

When facial tissues have proper mobility and stability, they can optimize your movement and function. When they don’t, therapy with kinesiology tape can aid the underlying tissue mechanically and by altering signals to your brain which then restores function.

The key is the stickiness of the kinesiology tape which creates a “lifting” effect to the skin helping to decompress the deeper fascial layers. This lifting effect works to decrease mechanical pressure on the free nerve endings and improve sliding and gliding between the layers of the underlying tissues. When these tissues move properly, they can provide the mobility and stability you need to heal yourself and perform the activities you want to do. The tape also works to change the sensory input to the brain, improving its output to the body. This can alter the perception of pain and improve your body awareness and performance.

When using kinesiology tape on an area that is swollen or inflamed, blood and lymphatic flow improve. This in turn, accelerates the removal of inflammatory by-products and speeds up the healing process.

Kinesiology tape has been shown to:

• decrease pain
• reduce inflammation, swelling, and bruising
• improve mobility
• provide functional support while allowing a full range of movement
• improve motor control/movement efficiency and optimize function
• decrease time off from your activity
• improve scar tissue

Some conditions that can be helped are:

• Shin splints
• plantar fasciitis / fasciosis
• runner’s knee
• back pain
• joint pain
• muscle pain
• poor posture
• inflammation or bruising
• pregnancy support

Dr. Thomas and Dr. Varga have completed courses with both K-Tape and Rock Tape.