Athletic Taping

What is Athletic Taping?

Athletic taping is the process of applying tape directly to the skin or over pre-wrap in order to maintain a stable position of the bones and joints during athletic activity.  Taping is also known to enhance proprioceptive feedback, or give you a better sense of where your body is in space and how it is moving.

Two most common types of tape and their benefits:

Kinesiology Tape:

• Kinesiology tape helps bring awareness to an area of the body that can assist in recruiting those muscles.
• Helps remove congestion and improve circulation by pulling the skin away from the surface.
• Can help disrupt and distract feelings of discomfort to allow you to focus on your sports or activity. 
• Helps “wake up” sleeping muscles prompting higher performance and training the body to utilize those muscles more efficiently.
• Assists in supporting proper posture by giving subtle feedback to the weaker muscles and stimulating them to fire more regularly.

White Athletic Tape:

• White athletic tape is typically used to offer stability to a more vulnerable area or joint that is unstable or weak.  
• Support injuries by compressing and limiting movement at that joint.
• Provides psychological support in a joint so it feels more stable to the athlete. 
• Helps prevent sprains, breaks, or other injuries that can occur in sports by providing extra support.

If you have questions about the various taping techniques or feel taping may help you, call IMPACT Physical Therapy & Sports Recovery today to schedule a taping session with one of our sports injury clinicians.