Does Kinesiology tape ACTUALLY work?

Ever seen that brightly coloured tape a lot of the sports star where? It’s not just limited to sport stars, you may have even seen your local athletes wearing it, or you may even see people in everyday life using it, but what is Kinesiology tape, and more importantly does it actually work. 

---

A quick internet search and you will be able to find a load of information for Kinesiology tape working and loads of information for it just being a placebo effect.
 
So does this stuff work? Well from when I have used it on clients, the majority of time it does have a positive effect. Like most things it works wonders for some and doesn’t do much for others, in this case the majority of time it works very well.
 
It’s worth pointing out here that the tape isn’t a cure for anything. As much as it would be nice to have the tape on and have it take away all our symptoms for them never come back, it’s just not how it works.
 
It’s great for reducing symptoms, but we still need to address the underlying cause of any pain to have any chance of correcting it. That is why using tape alone will be unlikely to have any long term success. Unfortunately those homework exercises will still need to be done. Remember the golden rule:
 
If you don’t do your corrective (homework) exercises, don’t expect to get results
 
 The real key to getting Kinesiology tape to be effective is how you apply it. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen tape wrongly applied (I would probably be making the same mistake if I wasn’t a trained Therapist), sometimes even by other Therapists. A lot of time I see tape used simple for support, don’t bother using Kinesiology tape for that, there is another sort of tape out there you can use that’s a lot more effective.
 
The key for getting the tape lays in getting the STRETCH of the tape correctly, and also correctly placing the joint/muscle in the correct position when applying it. Failure to do either of these will result in the tape not being effective.
 
It is key to point out that are a few cases when you would not use tape.
 
It completely varies depending on what and why you are putting the tape on, this will also dictate the amount of stretch we use in the tape. Keep an eye on this website and Facebook page for how to apply to different areas.
 
Just a quick note on how the tape works. After you have applied the tape at stretch (or lengthened the muscle), the tape will then ‘crinkle’. From here the crinkling effect lifts the skin away and allows inflammation to reduce and that’s it! It’s that simple!
 
So does the tape really work or is it a placebo? There are loads of arguments for both, but as long as it makes people feel better then does it really matter?

---