Is Kinesiology Tape Backed By Science?

What is Kinesiology Tape?

Imagine that you're taking a morning run before as your daily routine before starting your day, and while you're running, you begin to feel this intense pain in your leg. And there you go, you just got leg cramps. Since you're too hurt to run again, you've decided to book a ride to get you home immediately.

Now you're wondering, "how can I keep myself from getting cramps?"

Well, the answer: you either slow up your pace or buy a kinesiology tape!

Kinesiology tape is a tape that different athletes usually use so that they will be able to last longer in playing their sports. You will notice that volleyball or basketball players have been using these elastic and colorful tapes on specific parts of their muscles to get injured while playing on the court.

Unfortunately, most of you think that wearing a kinesiology tape makes you "look good" in the court, but you don't know that the kinesiology tape will help you maintain your performance in a sport!

How Kinesiology Tape Works

Many of you believed that kinesiology tapes could improve your peak performance, and it is one reason why many aspiring athletes see this as the "magic pill" in sports. Little do they know that wearing kinesiology tape is more than that!

Even though that kinesiology tape has been around in the sports industry, we still end up in having this question:

What does KT Tape do?

It Improves Circulation of Blood and Body Fluids

A research study in 2017 confirmed that wearing kinesiology tape helps you improve your circulation and reduce the swelling in your body's damaged area. This is why whenever you observe physical therapists' videos kinesio taping their patients’ injured areas.

The study also confirmed that the kinesiology tape's firm stretch changes the flow of the lymphatic fluid of the injured areas of your body, leading to faster recovery.

Lymphatic fluids are body fluids containing proteins and other chemicals that make your body swell whenever you're injured. Since the physio tape pressures this damaged area, it improves that fluid body buildup, making you recover faster.

It Increases Spaces in Joints

It is expected that athletes and people who love working out are prone to joint irritation. This is where your joint will swell when you've overwork yourself in the gym. Wrapping your joints with kinesiology tape creates a wide space in them, making you avoid swelling and irritation while working out.

Benefits of Kinesiology Tape

Kinesiology tapes are used to keep you from experiencing swelling around your body. Still, there are other benefits that you will get when you apply kinesiology tape to your body.

It Lessens Knee Pain

Whenever that you're going to watch highlights of a basketball game through the internet, you will notice that most of these basketball players have kinesiology tapes on their knees, and this is because these tapes create spaces in their knee joints so that they won't get these joints overstretched as they surpassed playing style in the basketball court.

Many physical therapists confirmed that knee pain and swelling are critical factors that can end an athlete's career if they continue to be reckless for not paying attention to their medical advice.

Once physicians locate the swelling on the side of the knee, athletes have no other choice but to take a long break from playing in their leagues, and this will cause a huge backlash on their careers. And this is why all athletes invested in this sports tape to avoid encountering these scenarios.

Pain Management

Muscle pain and weakness are the factors we hate since they keep us from pushing beyond our limits, and this is why physical therapists recommend athletes to use kinesiology tapes as one of the effective ways for pain management.

Since the tape compresses your nerves, your muscle fibers won't feel pain. However, you must be prepared for sore muscles later on, depending on how long you've lasted in playing your sport.

Enhances Performance

Many people think that pro athletes are always at the peak of their performance because they wear kinesiology tapes.

This statement is false!

The main reason why many pro athletes have been consistent in playing at their highest peak is that these kinesiology tapes keep them from injuries and sore muscles.

There are best kinesiology tapes like Guardian Athletic that can help you reach your peak performance by compressing your nerves. Guardian Athletic SportGTape™ also has an Icy Cooling feature that greatly soothes and recovers your muscles while playing your sport.

Pro athletes love to have ice baths, and Nick Clayton, C.S.C.S., the program manager for the National Strength and Conditioning Association stated that the main reason why ice baths are very important for athletes is that it recovers their sore muscles.

You can immediately get your muscles recovered with Guardian Athletic SportGTape™ Icy Cooling. Not only that this kinesiology tape keeps you from getting injured, but your sore muscles will be less painful after the game due to the cooling sheets of this sports tape.

Supports Weak Muscles

"No pain, no gain," this is the statement that athletes usually chant whenever they have sores. Pain was never an excuse in playing a sport; that is why athletes apply kinesiology tapes on their weak muscles to keep up with their stronger counterparts while these athletes are playing or working out in the gym. You can also wrap kinesiology tape on your wrists before lifting up the bar!

Still, there is no magic pill in boosting your performance in playing sports. It takes consistency and discipline to get it done. With the help of kinesiology tapes, you will push yourself beyond your limits without feeling intense pain.

Overall, Does It Work?

To make it all simple: yes, kinesiology tapes work for everyone! You just need to stop treating it as if it's a magic pill that will naturally make you strong as long as you're wearing it. Simply follow the KT tape instructions so that you can push yourself beyond your limits without getting injured either in the court or in the gym!