First used by acupuncturists and chiropractors in Japan, today kinesiology tape is used by practitioners throughout the world to treat injuries and improve sports performance.
While the use of kinesiology tape is often associated with elite athletes, medical professionals have been using it to alleviate a wide variety of ailments, not just sports injuries – and now the same quality tape is available to you.
Kinesiology tape has many potential applications which include supporting joint alignment while encouraging better range of motion, facilitation of better muscle activation, and increased blood flow and circulation of lymphatic fluids to reduce swelling. Taping is often used to enhance body awareness and posture while decreasing pain signals throughout the body.
RockTape / Fascial Movement Taping (FMT)
Fascial Movement Taping was created as a comprehensive framework of taping for each phase of need, from reducing swelling in an acute injury, to helping outcomes in the rehabilitation phase of care, and finally as an adjunct to training or competition to improve performance and recovery.
Fascial Movement Taping (FMT) is a rehabilitative taping technique that is designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion.
Latex-free and wearable for days at a time, RockTape helps athletes of every level go stronger longer and treats a variety of orthopedic, neuromuscular and neurological conditions. Based upon years of clinical use, RockTape is specifically applied to the athlete based upon their needs after evaluation.
I have attained both the FMT Basic Kinesiology Taping Certification and the advanced FMT Performance Kinesiology Taping Certification from RockTape – which is both a superior brand of tape and the most advanced taping technique educational provider.
KinesioTaping Benefits
- Reduction in pain levels
- Tissue decompression
- Enhanced sensory input
- Reduced swelling and inflammation
- Improved posture and alignment
- Better force distribution
- Enhanced movement patterns
RockTape Benefits Explained
Reduction in Pain Levels
Pain is reduced by the tape stimulating the myriad of sensory receptors in the skin and adjacent tissues. Tissue decompression relieves pressure from the free nerve endings in the tissues that are responsible for nociception (pain), so it can immediately reduce perceived pain.
Enhanced Sensory Input
Kinesiology taping provides stimulation to the variety of sensory nerves in the skin and underlying tissues. These sensory receptors are responsible for sensing touch, fine point discrimination, pain, temperature, and pressure. Some of these receptors serve a proprioception role – contributing to the brain’s sense of where the body’s parts are in space during movement. RockTape can be used to improve posture because it gives kinesthetic guidance to the body and can also be used to give feedback using tension, whether it is consciously noticed or not, to promote better positioning.
Reduced Swelling and Inflammation
Decompression of the skin and its underlying tissues is one of the primary effects of kinesiology tape which improves fluid handling by the lymphatic system. Improving fluid dynamics is beneficial both during acute injuries as well as during the recovery of strenuous exercise and training. Enhanced circulation to the taped area likely contributes to the performance and recovery effects seen in athletes who use RockTape during training and competitions.
Enhanced Movement Patterns
The purpose of fascial movement taping is to create more afferent and efferent communication between the brain and the dysfunctional muscular chain being taped. Every movement requires the same sequence of activation, preloading, joint stabilization, unloading, and then recovery to occur. Repeating this cycle over and over again, often at a rapid pace, requires exquisite rhythm and timing. If any step in the sequence is delayed or premature then the timing of the entire sequence is altered. Fascial movement taping provides heightened proprioceptive feedback to enhance the effectiveness of a corrective exercise program. Fascial movement taping frameworks are used in conjunction with complex assessment protocols and personalized corrective exercises rather than as an isolated intervention.