After viewing the London Olympics with Olympians plastered in colourful strips of kinesiology tape, I wondered if the claims of support for muscle and joint inflammation, pain or injury support were correct:  Kinesiology tape has a texture and elasticity close to living human tissue with a thinness that provides dynamic support when applied over or around the periphery of the area of injury. The flexibility allows safe and functional range of motion.

So when I over exercised and put strain on my knees, I purchased a case of pre-cut strips of KT tape from a sports store for around twenty dollars to try the tape out, so that I could continue exercising.

Instructional videos showed how to place tape strips for support. Once applied, they advertise that applications can be worn four to five days, even during intense exercise, showering, bathing or swimming.  In my experience, I had to be careful putting the tape on to have it stick properly. When properly applied, the tape did seem to offer support — enough so that I could continue exercise and it did feel like it provided support and I felt minor relief for my small injury even with movement.

With my limited experience, I feel that the tape does have the potential to offer support and therapeutic benefit. While I would fear full use of injured areas, the tape support would help to reduce further injury and thus promote healing and prevent reinjury, even prevent injury in the first place for people who are just starting an exercise regimen that requires support from undeveloped muscles and thus prevent injury in the first place.

Here is the KT Tape instruction for video of taping that I followed to support my knee.

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