Taping in Physiotherapy: More Than Just a Trend

Introduction: Taping in physiotherapy serves a pivotal role, emphasizing functionality over fashion. It’s a practical approach, primarily employed to provide support to injured or unstable joints, alleviate pain, and actively contribute to the rehabilitation process. In this article, we delve into the therapeutic functions, types, and application of taping in physiotherapy.

Taping’s Therapeutic Functions:

  1. Support and Stability:
    • Protective Reinforcement: Taping acts as a guardian, offering support and stability to vulnerable joints, such as ankles, knees, or wrists. This safeguard helps avert excessive movement and strain during physical activities, contributing to the protection and recovery of injured areas.
  2. Pain Reduction:
    • Altering Pain Perception: Taping techniques play a role in pain management by influencing the way nerves perceive pain signals. By gently altering this perception, taping contributes to pain reduction, making it a valuable tool in the arsenal against discomfort.
    • Compression for Swelling: Taping is instrumental in addressing swelling by providing compression. This controlled pressure aids in reducing inflammation, further promoting pain relief.
  3. Improved Muscle Function:
    • Enhancing Coordination and Activation: Taping isn’t just about immobilization; it also encourages improved muscle function. By offering valuable feedback to muscles, it enhances their coordination and activation, ultimately facilitating a smoother rehabilitation process.

Exploring Different Types of Taping:

  1. Kinesiology Tape:
    • Dynamic and Colorful: Kinesiology tape is the dynamic, colorful tape that often adorns athletes. Designed to mimic the elasticity of human skin, it provides support without hindering movement. This type of tape is commonly employed for muscle and joint injuries.
  2. Athletic Tape:
    • Rigid and Sturdy: In contrast to kinesiology tape, athletic tape offers rigidity and stability, making it ideal for joint support. It restricts movement to a greater extent, frequently finding use in sports like volleyball or basketball.

Taping Application: 3. Customized Application:

  • Taping in physiotherapy is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, it’s a customized endeavor. Trained physiotherapists assess each individual’s unique condition and therapeutic goals. They then apply the tape with precision, tailoring it to the patient’s specific needs.

Conclusion: Taping in physiotherapy goes beyond being a mere trend; it’s a fundamental component of the rehabilitation process. Its therapeutic functions encompass providing support, reducing pain, and enhancing muscle function. Whether it’s the dynamic kinesiology tape or the sturdy athletic tape, the choice is guided by the patient’s condition. The key takeaway is that taping, when applied by trained professionals, proves to be a highly effective tool in the journey to recovery and improved physical well-being.

Pre-habilitation, What’s that?

Pre-habilitation – A lateral thinking towards prevention of injuries

Rehabilitation of athletic injuries such as ligament and muscle injuries is common at present which takes longer period of time to get recovered and require great deal of patience throughout, ultimately leading to longer period out of play. On the other hand it is already known that tissue damage had been done.

Why not prevent injuries before it happen? There is a need of awareness and education among sporty and general exerciser individuals about pre-habilitation and its importance.

So what it actually is?

Pre-habilitation is a exercise program set for an individual knowing his/her weak links in body which can cause injury in near future. Pre-habilitation works on decreasing risk of injury, focuses on strength, flexibility & neuromuscular control of the areas vulnerable to injuries. This will also minimize the resting time or out of completion period due to injury and its recovery.

Pre-habilitation is sports specific and individual body based approach means it’s not common for all. Strengthening, flexibility, proprioception and agility exercises can reduce risk of injuries and also can help to enhance performance.

As according to American journal of Sports medicine , agility drills reduced ACL injuries among female soccer players by 88%.

Science behind Pre-habilitation –

Continuous training while having bio-mechanical fault can lead to injury, it becomes necessity to have a bio-mechanical approach towards athlete assessment. Pre-habilitation focuses on the regimes which will counter these faults. Biomechanical assessment follows functional activities to reach to weaker links in the body and the structures to be worked on. As for example pronation distortion syndrome can cause stress on ACL or PFPs over a period of time. Pre-habilitation works upon correcting the faulty mechanics thus reducing injury risks.

Beneficiaries of Pre-habilitation –

Elite athletes, occasional exercisers, gym going individuals & also those who are not regular exercisers are vulnerable to get injury , can benefit by pre-habilitation. Individuals having past injury can also have pre-habilitation program for themselves in order to prevent recurrence of same injury or other associated with it.

Why to get treated or rehabilitated after injury or any musculoskeletal pain when we can prevent it as it is rightly said “prevention is better than cure”.

Right choice of professional for pre-habilitation –

Physiotherapist is best choice when it comes to rehabilitation after injury similarly in prehabilitation physiotherapist is right selection. Biomechanical analysis is key for pre-habilitation for exercise planning and for that who can be better than physiotherapist.

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