Thursday, August 14, 2008

WHAT IS THAT TAPE OLYMPIAN KERRI WALSH IS WEARING?

I realize this is not related to smoothies and raw food but I thought it worth mentioning as several people have asked this question and, it is health related.

The tape that Kerri Walsh is wearing is kinesiology tape. I note today that her partner Misty May-Treanor is also wearing some. This tape is commonly used for muscle pain or myalgia. When lifting heavy objects or walking a long way, muscles can become inflamed. When that happens, compression of the space between muscle and skin occurs. This results in constriction of normal lymphatic fluid flow. This communicates “pain” to the brain and causes this muscular pain.

Kinesiology tape is used commonly following surgical procedures such as rotator cuff repair, knee replacement, hip replacement, anything that requires the surgeon to cut through muscle layer.

Regular athletic taping and kinesiology taping are different. Elastic tapes are used with at least 150 to 160% elasticity for kinesiology taping.

What happens is, the tape lifts the skin from the muscle and allows better passage of lymphatic fluid, eventually easing the pain that the person is experiencing.

If you experience frequent muscular pain, if you perform regulars tasks that require heavy lifting or anything that puts your muscles to the test or had recent surgery, kinesiology tape may be the way to go. I think I am going to try it for muscular pain I get in my neck due to herniated disks. My situation is severe muscle spasms. I want to see if it works and will write a followup once I start the process and log results. I also read that it helps with muscle cramps. I get calf muscle cramps when walking or standing for any length of time. I am going to try it on my calves to see if it helps.

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