After receiving my newest accessories aka my cheshire cat knees aka my physical therapy taping, I got so many questions asking what the heck is going on?! What is the purpose of that?! So who better to get to the exact answer from than a physical therapist?! My college sorority big is a licensed physical therapist and is one of the smartest people I know! So of course I went straight to her.
Her answer was very easy to understand: it helps give your body feedback about it’s position in space (kinesthetic awareness) so it can move better.
Okay cool, the idea of our spatial awareness I get but I want to know the in depth understanding of how kinesthetic taping benefits injuries.
I should mention that I had a partial subluxation of my left knee cap. It wasn’t painful but I could tell I was more weak on my left side. I didn’t give it much thought because when I was 16 I dislocated my left knee cap while playing field hockey so I’ve always had not so great knees. When I was 18 I dislocated my right knee cap so again darn those knees. Well my physical therapist wants to strengthen both knees which I am 100% all for!!
Kinesio tape is a type of tape used in this therapeutic technique. The tape is elastic so it allows for the patient’s full range of motion. It can also stay on the skin anywhere from three to five days. It’s designed to mimic healthy muscle elasticity.
Depending on how the tape is applied to the affected area, it is possible that it can relieve pain in the skin and fascia which is the underlying tissue that stabilizes the muscles. The compressive forces stimulate mechanoreceptors while the decompressive forces decrease inflammation. The Kinesio tape enhances the superficial lymphatic fluid exchange with the interstitial fluid. For the patient’s muscles, there is an increase in the range of motion and reduced muscle guarding when using this method. The goal is to activate weak muscles and inhibit the overused muscles. In my case, my weak muscles are the vastus medialis and the overused one is the rectus femoris. With the proper exercises in combination, hopefully my vastus medialis will become the muscle that gets used properly and the tendency of my knee cap to track wrong will lessen.
When applying the tape, there are four different ways of cutting it. The “I” strip has no cuts and has the tension focused within the therapeutic zone directly over the target tissue. The “Y” strip has the tape cut in two and the tension is dispersed between two tails over the target tissue. The “X” strip is cut in two on the top and bottom and has the tension focused directly over target tissue and dispersed through the tails. The fan cut has multiple slits in it and the tension is dispersed through the target tissue through each of the slits.
Because the Kinesio tape was invented in the 1970s, there is plenty of research in regards to its effectiveness on different areas of the body. Most focuses on the proper application to ensure that the body is receiving the best chance of recovery. Much of it reinforces the benefits but again there are always some groups of individuals who find flaws in anything. The naysayers believe it is all a placebo effect and that there is no benefit since it is simply just tape on the skin. Their beliefs come from the idea that tape alone can not fix injuries. Therefore, they would need to understand that with the correct movements in conjunction with the kinesio taping technique the injuries can be significantly improved!
I have high hopes with my taping adventure and physical therapy! I’m looking forward to seeing where the tape takes me!!
Again, if you are interested in this definitely talk to a physician or certified person! They know best about the benefits/downsides to Kinesio taping.
Xox, Z
PS I’m gonna inform you of my horribly silly decision I made! So my PT Anthony (smart guy) asked me to pick a color: blue, pink or black. Of course I pick pink and here he comes with the Cheshire Cat print kinesio tape hahaha I went with it and as you can see from the video it poked out from under my skirt when I sat down! I couldn’t stop laughing hahaha if that doesn’t describe me I’m not sure what does!!
