There are a lot of different ways to treat soft tissue injuries and this will focus on kinesiology tape and RockTape specifically. If you have ever seen beach volleyball or the CrossFit Games you have seen this tape before. So here are a few questions we will answer, what is it for, what does it do, and why is it different? The difference with this tape vs. some of your other tapes like a white athletic tape or a brace which is more rigid, this tape stretches. This allows you to be able to move your body with the tape but give you a little support with that movement. The biggest benefit you are getting with this tape is the awareness between your brain and the area of the tape. This gives a little more stimulus to the area and will make your brain more aware of the area and how it moves and feels, which will help yourself do the things that it needs to do. This concept is called proprioception, or your brain’s awareness and knowing where your body is in space. Another big aspect is with swelling and edema. There are a lot of videos and pictures online that show people using the tape over a bruise and when they take the tape off, the bruise will be gone or much less under the tape than the surrounding area. The mechanism that is occurring is the tape is assisting in decompression, or lifting up, of the tissue, which allows the blood flow to move in and out of the area better. We are not talking about huge changes, but enough to make some difference. So, it can help to keep the blood flowing a little better, it helps with you awareness of the area, and can help with queuing such as posture. Posture taping can just give you a little help to know what position you should be in and will stretch and give awareness when you aren’t in that position. This stuff is just tape. There is no medication or anything in it. Another way I like using it is when a person is trying to transition from wearing a brace to not wearing brace or support anymore because it can be psychologically scary to go without that support. The tape can help give you that feeling of support and with less rigidity and slowly get you off of needing your brace to “feel safe” to be active or do whatever activity you usually wear it for. Again, this is just tape and will not likely be your miracle cure, but it can help you along the way and help you get back to your Tahoe lifestyle a little bit faster and may keep you a little safer along the way.
Stop by the office to pick up some tape or schedule an appointment and see how you can use tape to help yourself specifically.
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Tahoe’s Premiere Sports Chiropractor
