Staff Writer
We’ve all seen someone running down the street or in a sports event with bright-colored tape displayed in patterns on their back, knees, shoulders, or elbows. Although it may look like an oversized bandage or just plain silly, your Doctor of Chiropractic knows it’s a sports science tool that can be highly beneficial for our musculoskeletal health.
The formal name of this technology is Kinesiology Tape, commonly referred to as K-Tape. This tape has a multitude of uses with very unique strategic applications.
K-Tape is made from a blend of cotton and nylon, and its adhesive is typically heat-activated and latex-free, making it suitable for a wide range of skin types.
Chiropractors often use Kinesiology Tape to treat injuries to the musculoskeletal system, and it’s quite different from white athletic tape, which restricts the athlete’s range of motion around a specific joint with little to no elastic properties.
Kinesiology tape does not limit motion to the area because it’s designed to stretch and mimic your skin’s weight and thickness. K-Tape can be applied in an X, Y, I, or fan pattern, depending on the therapy goals.
K-Tape is water resistant, latex-free, and, when applied, is left on for several days without losing its effective therapeutic properties.
When K-Tape is applied, it lifts the layers of skin, creating a microscopic space between the skin and the tissue below. This tiny space helps to alleviate pressure and allows the blood and lymphatic fluid to flow freely in and out of the area of injury.
This action is important for removing inflammation and fluid buildup. Kinesiology tape can even improve blood flow to the skin, according to a study published in the Journal of Performance Health Research.
K-Tape can reduce inflammation, increase circulation, reduce pain, improve mobility, enhance recovery, and even prevent future injuries.
Kinesiology Tape can be used for many conditions:
Because chiropractors often specialize in injuries to the musculoskeletal system (neck, spine, joints), K-Taping is often combined with a chiropractor’s manual adjustments to produce maximum benefit.
When joint movement in the spine is restricted, the brain can have difficulty communicating properly with the rest of the body, and vice versa. A chiropractor uses specific and artistic adjustments to restore the restricted joint motion. The adjustments are designed to restore normal joint biomechanics, which can help decrease pain and ultimately improve nervous system health. While undergoing chiropractic care, your chiropractor may recommend post-visit stretches and exercises to improve or maintain the results already achieved.
Chiropractic is an inherently conservative approach to healthcare, and the profession values the intrinsic biological ability of the body to restore and maintain health through compensating mechanisms, reparative processes, and adaptive responses.
Doctors of Chiropractic students undergo more than 4,200 clock hours of education and training and must pass a set of rigorous tests administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) to be eligible to practice.
In summary, chiropractic care offers a safe, effective, and whole-person approach to managing and possibly preventing sports injuries. Because of a chiropractor’s knowledge and the profession’s focus on the body’s movement and function, chiropractors can help anyone recover from injuries, enhance their performance, and maintain overall health.
If you’re interested in a comprehensive overview of the profession, download this free publication: Chiropractic: A Safe and Cost-Effective Approach to Health.
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC), founded in 1922, is a private, nonprofit chiropractic and health sciences university in Overland Park, Kansas. The CUKC on-campus Chiropractic Health Center is open to the public and treats patients from Kansas City’s 15-county metro area. Our goal is to provide chiropractic care and solutions for a better, more productive life for our patients.
