Kinesio Taping

Most major sporting events show some participants wearing brightly coloured tape on part of their body.

Kinesio Taping was developed to allow sports people to continue to train and perform while recovering from injury. After huge success in the sports field it has now moved into the general population with current research discovering more and more uses for this versatile system.

The tape is high tech and that combined with the skill of the practitioner in assessing the injury and deciding on the method of application is key to its success. It supports the injured area, conditions muscles, relieves pain, accelerates healing and reduces swelling whilst allowing normal movements and activities. The tape has an effect for three to five days from application so healing continues.

Taping is often used in a preventative way to stop an old injury playing up when working it hard. At the Great North Run participants were offered taping on their “niggles” the day before the race. This allowed them to complete the run without suffering the adverse after effects they would have otherwise felt.

People training in this technique include doctors, nurses, physiotherapists and sports therapists. Kinesio Taping has not been available in North Northumberland until now. Mary Gunn of Holy Island Holistics is now qualified and using the tape to good effect on many of her clients. She says “I find that taping after a massage prolongs the good effect of the massage and aids rehabilitation. And don’t worry about having brightly coloured tape on your body – I normally use beige tape.”