Everything you need to know about taping

Why tape?

We see football players with tape wrapped around their ankles, athletes sporting colourful strips in countless patterns around their joints, and others with beige-coloured bands on their injuries. So, what’s the deal with all this tape?

A short guide to taping

Kinesiology tape, or athletic tape, comes in all sorts of shapes and eye-catching colours. It’s increasingly popular with athletes and patients alike undergoing physiotherapy treatment. There are a multitude of ways to apply tape depending on the material used and the desired outcome. Here are a few definitions to help untangle the uses and benefits of taping.

Athletic taping

This conventional form of taping has been around the longest and is still widely used today. The stiff, white tape is made with a zinc oxide adhesive backing. It’s often applied over a thin layer of non-adhesive foam, or “pre-wrap,”, to protect the skin underneath. An adherent spray is also commonly used to keep the taping in place.

The main purpose of regular athletic taping is to support the injured joint by immobilizing it, thereby preventing further damage. It can also be used to prevent injury (although there is no clear scientific data to support this) and in other specific applications.

The advantages are that this type of tape is often readily available in pharmacies and the technique has been extensively studied. There are downsides, however: It’s not water-resistant and not very durable (it’s usually good for the first hour, but then loses much of its effectiveness afterwards). It can also be time-consuming to apply and requires knowledge of sometimes complex application techniques.

Kinesiology or neuro-proprioceptive taping

This type of taping is increasingly popular. It uses stretchy adhesive tape that comes in a wide variety of colours, is water-resistant, and is backed with a heat-activated, acrylic adhesive applied in a wave-like pattern. Because it’s so elastic, it can be shaped around the contours of the body, which can result in some delightfully intricate designs! Several companies offer this type of tape. Some have specific characteristics, such as four-way stretch, or come in precut shapes for easy application (e.g., spiderweb). This type of taping has three main goals:

1. Improve body biomechanics through muscle inhibition or facilitation.
2. Reduce pain in the treated area.
3. Reduce swelling by increasing lymphatic drainage. This is a technique frequently used by our PhysioExtra therapists specialized in manual lymphatic drainage, in patients with musculoskeletal injuries, or following a surgical procedure.

The advantages of this kind of taping are durability (it can be kept in place from three to five days), water-resistance (you can shower or swim without it coming off), versatility, rapid application, and elasticity, which allows for a full range of motion. The downsides are that it must be handled carefully (the adhesive loses its stickiness if it’s applied and then removed, so it’s important not to touch the sticky side when applying it), it requires a specific application technique for each treatment objective (which varies, depending on the amount of stretch applied to the tape), and there is a lack of research supporting the effectiveness of the treatment. It’s also not as readily available as white athletic tape (it’s not sold in pharmacies but you can get it from specialized sports stores).

Therapeutic taping

People are generally less familiar with therapeutic taping, but it’s a technique well worth discovering. Generally, the therapist will apply a first layer of breathable, hypoallergenic adhesive fabric (Hypafix^® or Cover-Roll Stretch^®), over which a non-elastic, water-resistant tape (Leukotape P^®) is stretched tight, creating wrinkles on the skin. There are several reasons for using this type of taping:

• Reduce tension in soft tissue (such as muscles and ligaments) to provide relief;
• Correct poor posture;
• Limit the mobility of a joint in a specific direction for biomechanical correction or to avoid damaging movements;
• Realign or provide stability or support to an unstable joint.

The advantages of this kind of taping are durability (it can be kept in place from three to five days), water-resistance (you can shower or swim without it coming off), versatility, and its simple and speedy application method (which can be taught to patients for future self-taping). There are also many scientific studies that prove its effectiveness. There are a few downsides, however. It’s not sold in pharmacies or in specialized stores, and how successful the treatment is actually depends on the elasticity of the patient’s skin—it’s often not very effective in those with highly elastic skin—as much as on the therapist’s skill with the tape.

Recommendations

If you think taping might be able to help you, talk to your physiotherapist, who will be able to determine if this treatment is the right one for you, and which technique would best address your health issues. Don’t forget that taping is just one of the many tools a physiotherapist can use to help you!

Article written by Nicolas Roy, physiotherapist