I'm sure most of you have seen your favourite sporting personality rock up covered in nice coloured tape. If you haven't then where have you been the last few years?
Anyway, maybe you were like me and didn't really understand what it did or why they had it on all the time. I did a bit of research into it and was getting mixed answers from all different angles. I was getting things such as, it helps the muscles recover, it moves parts in your body around, my favourite was it is to help recovery with the placebo effect. What I found was the internet gives you all kinds of answers and not always the right ones, I wanted to know for sure what this stuff was.
I then joined a Kineso taping course up in Newcastle. It was ran by a lovely guy named Lee who was a pyshiotherpist by trade and offered many courses around Europe in various treatments, this being a popular course. I quickly learned, the tape is good for various things to help the body get back to it's 'normal' state. Depending on how you apply the tape, you can use it to help aid lymphatic drainage all the way through to compression on pain areas around the body.
Throughout the 16 hour course, I tried various techniques with on different parts of the body and found I love the stuff. By the end of the course, I went home, covered in brightly coloured tape and feeling like a top athlete might whilst they are covered in it haha! I couldn't wait to get home and start using it on my clients and found out what they thought of it.
My first treatment was on myself. I use the tape to add stability to my knee as I suffer badly with my knee locking into place. Putting the tape on the medial side of my patella helps me move the joint more freely and gives me the confidence to not overthink how the joint moves during exercise. I also use it on my upper back to help the Rhomboid muscle group come back to a relaxed state by reminding me not to slouch over where my shoulder blades reach forward. Doing these two things have made a massive difference to my posture and the way I exercise. An example of this is when I ride my bike, I'm conscious of slouching over rather than reaching for the handlebars, I also use by legs equally whilst peddling.
I then went on to help my life long client my wife Hana. As some of you are aware, she suffers with chronic pain throughout her body, nerve damage down the left hand side all the way down to her foot which has developed into drop foot. The tape has been fantastic in getting her to use her left hand more freely without the need of wearing a wrist support. I have been able to put some along her back to add compression to pressure points of pain. I've also been able to use the tape to aid with her walking without the need of her foot support which is massive, bulky and doesn't fit well into shoes and clothes. Basically it has been life changing for her and long may it continue.
Since then, I've used the tape to aid recover on achilles injuries, back pain, neck pain, help with circulation and I also experimented with the tape in helping drain out a head cold. To summarise, it has a wide range of benefits and that is probably the reason why I couldn't find a straight answer on the internet. I love using it, it is not for everyone but it can help with a lot.
