Posted on August 06, 2015 by Jenny Cromack
Sports Taping
We are seeing more and more athletes sporting various forms of tape on various areas of the body. There are several different types of tape that are used in the world of sport and exercise all aimed at achieving different things. Generally tape can be effective via many mechanisms. However, one important thing to consider is that taping is NOT a cure it is merely a method to prevent or alleviate symptoms, or optimise recovery and rehabilitation. The two main methods of taping that will be discussed in this article are supportive athletic taping and kinesiology taping. This article looks at how sports taping works and the benefits of sports taping.
Athletic Taping:
Athletic taping is the solid white tape you often see athletes and individuals mummified in. The common reason this method is used is to support an existing or recent injury. The limb is taped into a position that provides optimal support and specific movements are restricted to prevent injury or re-injury. The mechanisms by which this taping method works is as follows:
Mechanisms
- Physically Restricts ROM (Preventing re-injury)
- Physically Supports Joints and Tissues
- Improves Sensory Feedback
- Joint position sense is improved
- Sensory-motor control is increased (Mind-Muscle Connection)
- Compresses Injured Site (Aiding Symptom Management i.e., Swelling)
- Unloads Inflammed or Shortened Tissues (Aiding Symptom Management i.e., Pain)
Benefits
- Injury Prevention
- Stability and Support (i.e. Stops painful movements or movements associated with injury)
- Assisting the Return to Activity
- Psychological or Anxiety Relief
- Injury Management
- Alleviating Symptoms such as Pain and Swelling
- Allows More Effective/Safe/Pain Free Rehabilitation
- Increased Blood Flow
- Biomechanical/Postural Alteration
- Put Structures in Optimal Positions
- Alter Sub-Optimal Joint Positions
- Proprioception (Joint Awareness) is Improved
- More Aware of Sub-optimal or Risky Positions
- Can Rectify Altered Joint Positions
Taping can help address the above areas and can be hugely beneficial and therefore is an option to aid your recovery and rehabilitation as it will provide the support and protection you will need in the early stages. However, it is a temporary measure and should not become relied upon, start to progressively remove the use of tape and work on rehabilitating any injuries to improve strength and the body’s own physical methods of injury prevention.
Kinesiology Tape:
The second method of sports taping, kinesiology taping or K-Tape, is a fairly new concept and is often shrugged off as a gimmick. This is the brightly coloured tape you will see many elite athletes wearing, applied in elaborate patterns. The difference between this tape and the athletic tape (discussed above) is that it is much more elastic whereas the athletic tape is very rigid to provide the support and restrict movement. K-tape is not rigid and although it provides an element of support in its own way, it does not aim to restrict movement.
K-Tape has several different actions that all act slightly differently depending on the way it is applied. These different outcomes are as follows:
- Muscle Inhibition
- Muscle Facilitation
- Postural Alteration
- Swelling
- Pain Reduction
Muscle Inhibition
The way this method works is dependent upon the direction and the stretch of with which the tape is applied. Applying the tape from the muscle insertion to the origin (from where the muscle finishes to where it originates). By doing this the recoil of the tape pulls against the contraction direction of the fibres and this helps unload the muscle fibres. This has its benefits which are as follows:
- Helps relax an overactive or dominant muscle
- Helps relax a tight or shortened muscle
- Can be used to help manage muscle imbalances in combination with other K-taping methods
Muscle Facilitation
This method works in the opposite manner to the above and again is direction dependent. This time the tape needs to be applied from origin to insertion. This time the recoil works in the same direction as the muscle contraction therefore helps pulls the muscle into its shortened position. The benefits of this are as follows:
- Aids the activation of weaker muscles
- Aids retraining movement patterns by ‘waking up’ specific muscles
Postural Alteration
A smaller amount of stretch is applied with this method and instead of directly applying over the muscles the tape is applied in a fashion that the recoil pulls a joint into a more optimal position. Unlike athletic taping this pull is not a rigid restricted pull, it is a small recoil that makes the athlete more aware of when their joint falls into a sub-optimal position. If their joint falls into a bad position or posture it will be noticeable as they will feel the tape slightly pull and they can then rectify this. It is more an awareness of position rather than a physical restriction. This has obvious benefits which are as follows:
- Improves awareness of joint position
- Stimulates conscious alteration of joint position
Swelling & Bruising
This method is the one you may have seen on the TV where athletes have the meshed elaborate web of patterns. By applying a webbed pattern with a small amount of stretch over the swollen or bruised area. The tape is applied so the recoil is pulling towards the lymphatic nodes of the body. This helps draw the excess fluid towards the lymph nodes. The obvious benefits of this method are:
- Drainage of excess fluid and swelling reduction
- Reduction in bruising
Pain Reduction
This is a very simple but effective method and is dependent on the stretch on the applied to the tape. The tape is applied in a star shaped fashion with several strips so that the painful area is covered. The stretch on the tape is a full amount of stretch applied middle first rather than one end first. The way this works is the recoil then pulls both ends together and this lifts the tissues and the skin up relieving the pressure and improves the blood flow to the area. This helps relieve any pain in the area.
Considerations
Disadvantages
There are several disadvantages to using tape which are as follows:
- Ideally has to be applied by a professional
- Can be expensive and also takes time
- Athletic tapes loses its effectiveness of up to 50% after the first 5-20 mins of activity
- People can become reliant on tape
- Reliance on tape reduces peoples engagement in proper rehabilitation
There are various videos on how to apply K-tape but don’t use these without seeking expert advice on application first as the videos don’t take into account all the goals of the taping and can sometimes result in people taping in the wrong direction and therefore having the opposite effect to what is desired. Similarly with the athletic tape it needs to be applied to the correct areas with the correct tension to be effective.
Taping can be a very useful tool to support and manage injuries. It can provide great support, aid the recovery and healing process as well as manage injury symptoms. However, it should not be used as a permanent fix only a temporary tool to aid the rehabilitation program.