Today we walk around and see a rainbow of colored tape on everyone from our sports heroes to our weekend warriors and everyone in-between.  So what’s all the fuss about?

What is taping in Vernon Hills?  Physical Therapists use materials on various body parts using compressive, supportive or restrictive forces to improve activity or shorten healing time.

So who Tapes?  Typically we see athletes who are looking to continue the sport or activity with less pain.  Weekend warriors- nothing can keep this group from enjoying their hiking, running, or extreme workouts.  Also, anyone with an injury will fall into this category.

How long should a patient tape? Tape can be worn during the activities up to 1 -2 days after application.  Something to note would be the type of the tape used, type of injury sustained and type of activity.

Three main categories of tape in Vernon Hills IL:

• Corrective
• Supportive
• Compressive

Corrective tape examples would be KT or Leukotape.  A patient would use these tapes to treat injury to joints and in specific injuries to fix muscles and reduce swelling.

Supportive examples would be Athletic, Elastikon (Dr. Mike’s favorite) and Elastoplast.  A patient would use this to support unstable joints, sprains/strains, partial tears of muscles and tendons/ligaments.

Compression examples would be Coban and Lightplast.  These tapes will help patients reduce swelling and Edema as well as sprains and strains.

There are many types of tape on the market today.  It can be overwhelming decide what will work best for you so we included a guide below to help you navigate the process.

Remember to keep watching for more information on taping to come in future videos describing more details on types of tape as well as best practices and techniques.