SPORTS
MEDICINE REHABILITATION SECTION
Natsis
Kostas1, Aftosmidis Dimitris2
Medical
School Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki, Physiotherapy Department TEI Thessaloniki,
Greece
The application of tape is an
art. Practice is essential to good taping. Taping refers to the
application of some type of adhesive tape that adheres to the skin of a
particular joint or to a limb.
Tape if applied correctly,
will provide support and compression. To maximize the effectiveness of
any taping technique, it is important to have a basic understanding of
what you are trying to achieve and what taping can and cannot do. To
maximize the effectiveness of any taping technique, it is important to
have a basic understanding of the anatomy and function of the tissues
you are trying to support. In addition, it is extremely important to
have knoweledge how an injury occurred. The soft tissues sometime
affected are muscle, tendon, fascia, cartilage, joint capsule, ligament
and skin.These structures are often discussed separately, however, they
are all intimately related and, therefore, must be considered together.
The
primary aim of taping techniques is to provide support and protction to
soft tissues without limiting their function unnecessarily. These
techniques can be applied both before an injury and after an injury
during both the early, and/or later stages of injury management.
The
goals of prophylactic taping are the support of areas from excessive or
repeated stresses, and to support joints that have a history of injury.
To
provide a measure of soft-tissue (i.e. skin, muscle, tendon, ligament
and joint capsule) support by placing injured structures in a position
of minimal stress, and to enable the injured athlete to resume activity
(often modified) which assists in ragaining strenght and flexibility of
the joint or limb are the goals of the taping that we use in
rehabilitation.
With the taping you allow the harmless
movement and give Porprioception and Neuromuscular control, this
assists with optimal healing and repair, therefore, eliminating the
need for total immobilization of minor injuries.
There are
many different ways to tape and you mast always remember what tape can
and cannot do. It is equally important to recognize when an injured
limb or joint should not be taped. The beginner should start slowly and
after much practice efficiency will be the result.
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