Back when I was practicing as a sports medicine doctor and providing Sports Medicine Injury Therapy at the British Universities and Colleges Outdoors, as is the case with the topic of athletics today it was a very competitive environment. With the high pressure to perform, it was not uncommon to see many athletes that required pre-competition sports taping. That included taping for Achilles and patella tendons and wrists for shot put. Applying tape is a skilful job since there are many ways to tape a single joint, and different types of tape, and one has to be mindful about how much tension to apply. Too much tension might make you compensate and over used other joints, and too little could result in it being ineffective. There are also situations where tape is not indicated at all. There are 3 common types of tape: elastic, rigid and K tape. One of the thoughts on how tape works, is that it changes where the forces are being directed, for example during landing impact, thereby off loading the tendons and ligaments or other soft tissue. Another thought is that it changes your sense of alignment and positioning (proprioception) so that you have a better chance of correctly positioning your joints whilst in motion, thereby reducing the likelihood of injury. Tape can also be used to help protect a joint or soft tissue that is still healing.
May 04
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