What is Kinesiology Taping?
Athletes sporting strips of brightly coloured tape over parts of their body are now a familiar sight to anyone who watches sport on TV.
In recent years, Kinesio Tape (or kinesiology taping to give it its generic name) has become a hugely popular and highly successful technique to help assist the body’s natural healing process.
But it’s not just professional sportspeople who can benefit from kinesiology taping.
Non-sportspeople can also enjoy significant improvements to pain or injury, across a variety of orthopaedic, neuromuscular, neurological and other medical conditions.
How Does Kinesiology Taping Work?
Kinesiology taping works by helping to increase blood flow in the injured area and decrease swelling; together, this alleviates pain.
Furthermore, the elasticity of the tape has been shown to effectively support the contraction or relaxation of the underlying muscles.
If a limb is stretched, the tape will stretch with it. The tape will then contract back with the muscle and in so doing, it takes some of the workload off the patient’s injured muscular tissue.
In terms of athletic action, the tape provides the dual benefit of more stability without restricting the limb’s range of movement.
Finally, using elastic kinesiology tape over an injured muscle also provides additional, underlying, soft tissue manipulation, which prolongs the benefits of any manual therapy from one of the Origin healthcare team.
It can be worn for days at a time and is safe to use on both children and adults.
When Should You Use Kinesiology Taping?
Kinesiology tape is great for:
- Joint, muscle and ligament support
- Tennis and golfer’s elbow
- Shoulder injuries
- Bursitis
- Postural issues
- Lower back pain
For more information on how kinesiology taping might be incorporated into your tailored treatment plan, please speak to your Origin Health osteopath or sports therapist.
Price:
£15 for 15 mins
