Kinesiology taping
Kinesiology taping (KT) is a therapeutic tool and has become increasingly popular within the sporting arena. Taping has been used for a long time for the prevention and treatment of sporting injuries. KT is not only used for sporting injuries but for a variety of other conditions. It was developed in the 1970's with the intention to alleviate pain and improve the healing in soft tissues.
There are many proposed benefits to KT, including: proprioceptive facilitation; reduced muscle fatigue; muscle facilitation; reduced delayed-onset muscle soreness; pain inhibition; enhanced healing, such as reducing oedema, and improvement of lymphatic drainage and blood flow.
The tape is commonly used by physiotherapists to:
Some of these purposes may be achieved through a combination of these possible effects of taping:
There are different kinds of tape that can be employed:
Tape may be used to: