Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Kinesio Tape

Last Friday, Diane from the Elks tried a new-to-Darsie technique -- kinesio tape.

Kinesio tape is a soft stretchy tape from Japan that is used to tape certain muscle groups and act as a "reminder" to the brain. The tape is applied to the muscles and the way it feels reminds me to make the correct movement.

We tried it out to pull her arm into a more neutral position. D didn't mind it and after an hour swimming with Diane in the hydro pool yesterday, it peeled off without too much of a fuss.

This site shows some beautiful applications, but Ds was simply a piece of tape applied around her forearm to pull the hand in rather than down.

We are going to try to tape her thumb on Friday and see how that works. I promise to take some photos of it because I think it is a really interesting method. Diane told me that at the Olympics there was a lot of kinesio taping being done, so I imagine that we will be seeing more and more of it in the future for both sport and rehabilitative reasons.

3 comments:

Tammy said...

Oh Goodness Me. Thanks. I will discuss this with Joseph's therapist tomorrow!

Awesome Mom said...

That looks very interesting. I will be looking forward to seeing how it works out for her. It could be helpful to my son.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I am so thrilled to know of this apllication and wish you the best.

Patients love Kinesio tape! Here is a comment from one of my patients....

"Thank you so much for working with me two times in one day, and on such short notice. The magic you worked - adjusting me, and the "Volleyball" tape worked wonders and I was able to run the entire Rock N Roll Marathon! I had a slow and consistent pace for the entire race, and was able to run all of it and not have to walk at all. Even at miles 20 through 26 where runners typically are not doing so well, I was feeling great and running strong! As I ran, I kept remembering the quote, "Pain is temporary. Pride is forever." As I thought about that during the race I couldn't help but be thankful that I had no pain in my knee. I am so proud to have run all 26.2 miles, and am grateful that you were a big part of my first marathon. "

I look forward to reaching out and helping those with cerebral palsy.