11 Best Kinesiology Tape For Swimming

Best Kinesiology Tape For Swimming in 2023

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Kinesiology Taping: A New Way to Manage Muscle Pain

Kinesiology tape, properly applied, can reduce the pain of joint and muscle injury and enable quicker healing and less time on the "disabled list."

In addition to the injured muscle experiencing a reduction in activity as a result of pain, physical therapists have noted that other "synergistic" muscles undergo a reduction of activity in order to compensate for the painful condition. This results in additional muscular dysfunction and can lead to more complications.

In the past, sports trainers, physical therapists and individuals themselves have used taping as a therapeutic support from injuries to muscles. Recently, this taping has gotten considerably more high-tech and much more colorful than the plain white adhesive strips of the past.

Traditional Taping is a Mainstay of Athletic Competition and Rehabilitation

Literally millions of rolls of tape are used each year by sports trainers, amateur and professional athletes to support vulnerable joins and muscle groups prone to strain and overuse. The tradition of lining up outside the trainer's room before a game or race is one that just about any athlete has experienced. The principal use of this cotton, adhesive tape is for the mechanical control of the joints and muscles to restrict their movements.

While this taping has been standard practice for more than a hundred years, experts in kinesiology have long suspected that this traditional taping might be potentially harmful. Traditional taping involves wrapping a joint for support and compression and is only used during the physical activity and then is discarded. This "old school" taping is pretty much a "blunt instrument" in terms of being able to supply subtle pressure or injury-specific rehabilitation.

A Better (and More Colorful) Taping Regimen

The 2020 Olympics in Beijing was the event that catapulted kinesiology taping to the consciousness of sports trainers and athletes alike. While this product and methodology became widely known during the Olympics in China, the kinesiology taping was developed in the 1970's by a Japanese chiropractor, Kenzo Kase, and has been available in the United States since the mid-1990's.

Unlike traditional taping, which is used for wrapping a joint for support, the kinesiology tape is placed in a variety of patterns and is pulled to differing degrees of tension to create the desired effect, depending on the injury. Unlike the traditional white tape which is discarded after one use, the kinesiology tape is usually brightly colored and is typically worn for two to five days.

The primary advantage of the kinesiology tape lies in its composition. It is made of high-grade, water-resistant, breathable cotton and 100 percent acrylic adhesive. It is formulated to be extensible with recoil and this is what makes it invaluable as a rehabilitation tool. Due to the dynamic stretch capabilities of the tape, there is no restriction in the range of motion while it supports enhanced muscle use.

In order to reduce swelling in a joint, the kinesiology tape can be arranged to create an area of low pressure around the damaged area allowing the fluid to move and drain. Some physical therapists and athletic trainers also contend that the new tape provides stimulation to the skin cells that affect pain pathways, by disrupting and diminishing the ascending signals of pain through sensory gating mechanisms. This leads to restored muscle activation, allowing for a speedier reduction of the pain and reduction of time on the "disabled list."

The Results are Mixed

One of the brands of kinesiology tape, which was developed by the family of Kenzo Kase called "Kinesio Tex," was tested in a study of 42 patients with shoulder pain. The results, published in 2020 in the "Journal of Orthopaedic amp; Sports Physical Therapy," found that range of motion improved immediately after the application of this kinesiology tape, compared with a sham taping using no tension. However, the study found no significant differences in pain or overall disability.

In another study, published in the same journal, 41 patients with whiplash after automobile accidents found statistically significant pain relief and improvement in range of motion after kinesiology taping. The effects were immediate and continued one day later. However, the research team noted that the changes were so small that they might not be clinically meaningful.

Since its introduction, the use of kinesiology tape has been limited to trained physical therapists, sports trainers, chiropractors and physicians. This might account for some of its effectiveness since trained clinicians understand the "cause and effect" of muscle pressure and restriction. However, this is about to change as the popularity of the tape spreads.

The challenge for this kinesiology taping regimen will occur when newer brands are sold to untrained consumers and casual athletes who know little about the mechanics of the joints and muscles. This could lead to a situation where the athlete or patient knows just enough to be dangerous and instead of helping in the rehabilitation process, this tape could do even more harm.