If your daily mail reads like mine, hardly a week passes when I do not receive a course listing for some sort of therapeutic taping class coming to town. I am impressed by the very artistic swirly patterns that are shown on the trim/fit bodies of the models, but is that (excessive) amount and complexity of taping really necessary? I guess the answer would be, “it depends”. Since I’ve never taken one of those classes, I can only assume that it is effective, after all, if people are paying to learn, it must work, right? I was always happy with my narrow but deep toolbox of myofascial release-related modalities, feeling that taping was not necessary to meet the needs of my pain-based practice and patients. Then nearly two years ago, I spent a weekend learning from Diane Jacobs, PT, and her DermoNeuroModulation approach to treatment. Diane spent approximately 20 minutes introducing a simple method of taping for pain, one that did not rely on complex taping patterns, odd-sounding explanations of muscle activation and deactivation, or other so-called “deep models”. Instead, she taught taping for pain via a simple explanation. When we laterally stretch the skin (Hmmm, that’s what I do with MFR), we activate the Ruffini mechanoreceptors.
Therapeutic Taping FAQs
Therapeutic Taping Evaluation and Application.
1. Isolate the pain, assure that your patient can feel the pain, whether at rest or in movement. The area of pain may be focused or diffuse, it matters very little. Pain that is sporadic/intermittant is harder to tape, as they will not always be able to report back on what they feel.
2. Now, using one or two hands, lightly contact the skin and gentle draw the skin together. If using one hand, it is as if you are pinching from a fairly wide spread, though occasionally a narrow range pinch will be perfect. Here is where the experimentation/play comes in, as you need to access all areas of the skin above, over, and below the pain to find a space that the pinch seems to lessen or eliminate the pain.
3. Do not worry about dermatomes, muscle distribution, etc., as we are working with the Ruffini mechanoreceptors, which are present throughout the skin. You are simply trying to find an area of the skin that when the skin is drawn together, the pain changes. Some areas will provide no change while others may even increase the pain. Again, do not over think this. Play with a wider area of access vs. a smaller one.
4. Once you have found a positive connection, where the pain is lessened or eliminated, cut a piece of tape to the same length as the area of pinch you just found. Round the edges slightly. Then, grab the tape and bend it so that the paper backing in the MIDDLE of the piece tears in half. Peel both ends back so you can hold the tape by the ends only. I stretch the tape to approximately 50-75% of its maximum stretchability, but you will have to experiment here. Stretch the tape and lay it on the skin, in the same orientation as you did the test skin stretch. Most of the tape, except for the area you are gripping with the paper backing, will be laid out in a stretched position. Then, allow the ends to peel away from the paper and lay onto the skin with no stretch at all. This keeps the tape from pulling away and beginning to peel right away. It takes a few practice tries to get it right, but now I only mess up 1 out of every 20 tries. Have them test their pain. If you were successful, watch their eye grow big, as it is almost too good to be true! Rarely, your patient will feel that the tape is irritating, either immediately after application or later in the day. Simple remove the tape if this occurs and try again.
5. If it is necessary to remove the tape, warn your patient not to pull too quickly. The tape can stick quite well and they do not want to tear the skin. If attempting to remove it slowly does not work, ask them to rub lotion/oil into the area of and around the tape and it will easily come off.
Below you will find a short video I made, outlining the basic aspects of taping. Hopefully you will find a bit of humor in the video. Have fun and play with the skin and the tape, as this is the key to learning. We cover Taping for Pain in all Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminars.
For Now,
Walt Fritz, PT
Foundations in Myofascial Release Seminars
This is brilliant! The instructional video is so easy to understand! Can’t wait to try, at least with myself. Thank you, Walt!
Please let us know your thoughts once you’ve tried it, Mary.
I love taping!! My favorite is the diaphragm taping. Lots of clients know how to breath into the front belly of their diaphragm but not into the back thoracic cage. They stand taller. And feel so much better. I’ve taped a corrected hip in place to help the client curb compensation pattern. Such a great tool! 🙂
Lots of taping possibilities. What I love about the method I’ve shown is that it requires very little training ($) to accomplish such good results.
Only a small percentage of my clients come in with pain issues, stress being the biggest reason. However I do know people for whom it has worked so am open to trying it next time I do get someone with pain issues.
That was a very helpful Walt. Thank you. Can hardly wait to give it a try. I particularly like the simplicity of it. I own “A Clinic for Stress and Pain Management” and always looking at more efficient ways to help my clients deal with pain.
Simplicity and effectiveness go hand-in-hand here, Judy. I just finished up a session with a patient who had a total knee replacement 2 months ago. Pain and loss of ROM are her issues. After the session, trying to bend the knee underneath her (her preferred method for getting more flexion) caused a 4/10 pain. One 5″ piece of tape dropped it to a 2/10, allowing her to stretch easier and be more at ease.
Hi Walt,
I have been a Certified Kinesio Tape Instructor for over 10 years and would like to respond, respectfully, in the following way:
Elastic therapeutic taping, while a terrific modality for pain management, is also a terrific modality for lymphedema and edema management, postural re-ed, muscle imbalance, scar management, restoring ROM, and supporting joint biomechanics and alignment. When applying elastic tape to the skin (and I can only vouch for Kinesio Tex Tape as this is the only tape with whose properties I am familiar) you can either compress or decompress the skin, depending on how much tension you put into the tape. At high tensions (above 50% as you describe) the tape loses its ability to recoil and compresses. At lower tensions, it recoils and lifts the skin. The applications are different depending on what you are asking it to do. Furthermore, The tape does not select out the Ruffinis – it’s not that smart. There are Pacininian corpuscles, free nerve endings, Merkel’s discs, etc… that are also being stimulated by the tape. Lifting and compressing the skin do very different things to the sensory motor loop and affect circulation and the skin itself in very different ways. Learning how to manipulate the tension and the direction of the tape to achieve different goals is what you learn in a course. I think it’s great and very kind that you are sharing a skill that you have learned with other colleagues, but you have barely touched the surface of how the tape works or what you can do with it. The courses may cost money (intellectual property is a monetized commodity) but I stand by the Kinesio Taping Method as the single most valuable modality I have in my tool kit after my own two hands. So, again respectfully, I would suggest that dissuading people from taking courses in a modality that you freely admit you have never explored, is not the most responsible position. You offer an introduction to the modality but not a full understanding of its applications and effects, and folks should understand that.
Thanks for the comments and as I’ve stated, I know there are multiple uses for taping, but I am interested primarily in pain relief. No doubt your training has shown you a wide variety of ways to utilize taping, but why criticize a simple to demonstrate and learn usage of taping? Pain is one of the commoner reasons for which therapists see patients, so why would you question someone learning this? As for my listing Ruffinis! I did so as they ar the one primarily responsible for detecting laterally skin stretch in a sustained fashion, which is what I do, with the MFR-like skills I utilize. One cannot be specific when applying pressure or tension into an area where all the mechanoreceptors lie, but one can be aware of which ones are better accessed with the light stretch taping provides. As to tape applied at levels of stretch over 50%, I will definitely keep this on mind when I tape again! as if it works better than what I’ve be able to do thus far, I am all for it. As for the monetization of intellectual property, I am fully aware that knowledge comes at a cost. But for simple uses, such as pain, the cost needn’t be so high.
Walt,
I am not beating up on you-or trying not to. You might have missed it, but I actually complimented you on your generosity in sharing something you learned that was helpful to you in your practice. My issue is the suggestion that this is all you need to know about taping for pain management or taping in general. It just ain’t so. Pain, particularly chronic pain, which is my particular area of interest, is not merely the result of fascial tissue restriction. This is but one component. Pain results from: lack of circulation, muscle imbalance and misfiring, movement and postural dysfunction…these are all necessary to treat for successful long term pain remediation, and can be treated with taping. That’s why the courses and certifications exist. Sure, you can learn a little technique here and there, and maybe it’s better than nothing. But if you really want to do right by your patients with any modality, you should know all of its properties, its indications and contra-indications (and there are contra-indications), and how to apply it to greatest effect. I can read a book and watch a video on how to perform surgery, but that doesn’t make me a surgeon. I have had many, many students in my class who have watched youTube videos and read books about taping and every one of them, without exception, has changed their application technique after taking the course. I suspect you would too. And I think ultimately, you would find it worth the moolah you would have to spend.
Thanks, Andrea, but I think you are reading into my comment too much. No where did I say anything about fascial tissue restriction.
“Pain results from: lack of circulation, muscle imbalance and misfiring, movement and postural dysfunction…these are all necessary to treat for successful long term pain remediation, and can be treated with taping.” Please show me the positive correlation between poor posture and pain. While they may be connected, poor posture is not an inevitable cause of pain. I would say the same for muscle imbalance and muscle misfiring, whatever that may be. I do know all about courses and certifications. I just do not feel it is necessary. My opinion. As for being worth the “moolah”, as you say, it all depends on the needs and interests of the therapist. You taping class is very expensive, but I assume therapists have found value in it, which is wonderful. Our profession has come to equate value with cost, much like the general public. My line of training in MFR was absurdly expensive, but was rationalized in a way to make me feel like it was my privileged to be there. As I’ve gotten older I simply don’t buy this anymore, no pun intended. If a therapist want to be jack of all trades, then I think your course would indeed teach a lot. If pain is the issue, I will stand behind what I’ve said.
Walt,what terms are listed on the correct type tape , so we know it has the correct properties for stretch.
Thank you Walt for this demo on taping. I have had Kinesio taping done on me for different muscle/tendon problems and its been very effective. I feel like it is acting as a constant MFR while I wear the tape, which has helped with different aches and pains. Your post has made me realize that I need to revisit the use of this in my own practice.
Great Article! Taping method laid out in simple, easy to comprehend terms. And great video too! Very Helpful. Thanks So Much!
Thanks!
Dear Walt and Andrea. I have years of experience with McConnell taping and the OnTrack brace for patellofemoral dysfunction. I always found that the method worked very well. However, I must admit that it wouldn’t hold up to the rigorous scientific scrutiny that I in my capacity as a healthcare research scientist must adhere. What is the evidence for the efficacy of kinesiotape, MFR, and this new form of taping?
Hi Jonathan,
I guess we are in the same predicament. I am not aware of any solid evidence for taping. I was taught a plausible explanation, based on skin anatomy, as noted in the blog post, however this did NOT come from my MFR training. I see no connection between the implausible models taught in most MFR trainings and what I am seeing in terms of results with taping. I would refer you to Diane Jacobs, PT’s DMN site, as well as her blog for different perspective on pain.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! I did this on the too side of my foot where I’ve had unrelenting pain in the tarsals. Within 24 hours the pain left and has not returned. Now trying it on clients.
You are welcome, Deb. So simple yet so effective.