Kinesio Taping

What is Kinesio Taping?

Kinesio Taping is a therapeutic method using an uniquely developed elastic tape.

Kinesio Tape is designed to be worn for a certain period of time to help reduce pain and improve function between therapy sessions.

How Does Kinesio Tape Work?

As the tape is applied, the elastic property of the tape creates lift in soft tissues.

This lifting effect produces increased space, thus removing pressure from nerves to decrease pain and allowing for better blood flow which helps injuries heal faster.

Through very specific application, Kinesio Tape can be used to treat a variety of issues which include:

• Calming overworked muscles
• Strengthening weaker muscles
• Supporting damaged ligaments and tendons
• Repatterning unhealthy postural habits

How Did Kinesio Taping Originate?

Dr. Kenzo Kase is the original creator/inventor of the Kinesio Taping Method (KTM).((Source: “Kinesio’s President & Founder,” Kinesio Taping Association, Link to website.))

After graduating from college with a bachelor’s degree in business and working for the Japan Railways, he was inspired by his father-in-law, a pioneer chiropractor himself, to leave his country to go to the United States and pursue a doctorate degree in chiropractic medicine at the National University of Health & Sciences.

During the 1970’s, triggered by observing taping used for rheumatoid arthritis patients, Dr. Kase began to make taping a link between patient visits & the body’s own natural healing process.

However, after successfully applying athletic taping to achieve clinical objectives, he immediately observed adverse skin reactions. Determined to improve on a good idea, Dr. Kase founded a new treatment, the Kinesio Taping Method (KTM), in 1979.

After coming to the conclusion that existing tapes would not work for his method, Dr. Kase then designed & created a new kind of tape (Kinesio Tex) that would mimic the qualities of human skin and gently influence deeper tissue health & function.

Dr. Kase later founded, alongside other professionals, the Kinesio Taping Association in 1984. Over the last 35 years, Dr. Kase has never stopped developing new techniques and discovering new applications.

He still teaches his methods at conferences and symposiums around the world.

Kinesio Taping Applications

The Kinesio Taping Method is a highly versatile technique, consisting of over 1,200 current applications for the human body, with an ever expanding base of knowledge from the continued research of professionals and practitioners.

To best explain how these applications are accomplished, Kinesio Taping is divided into two primary categories:

1. Muscle applications
2. Corrective techniques

Muscle applications are further separated into two (2) sub-categories:

1. Facilitation, which encourages muscle contraction
2. Inhibition, which helps to calm muscles that are overworking

Corrective techniques have six (6) sub-categories:

1. Manual correction
2. Space correction
3. Fascia correction
4. Ligament/tendon correction
5. Functional correction
6. Lymphatic correction

Through careful observation and testing, a trained therapist can combine a number of tapings together and tailor fit the application to meet the client’s specific needs.

This open-ended application format is what makes Kinesio Taping so effective and gives it such a vast number of applicable techniques.

Kinesio Taping Example

For something like low back pain, in which the therapist’s assessment shows an increase of spinal curvature, the tape could be applied in one layer to inhibit the erector spinae, which would help calm the overworked low back musculature.

A second layer could be applied to assist the first taping even further, such as a space correction, that would help lift compressed tissue, & remove pressure that may be pressing against nerve endings.

Kinesio Taping is a very effective method, either used solely on it’s own, or combined with other therapy techniques and can greatly enhance an individual’s recovery from injury or improve long standing conditions.