Category: Kinesiology

How To Kinesiology Tape for Groin Pain

How to Kinesiology Tape for Groin Pain

Groin injuries can be a painful and debilitating, and really restrict the mobility of the athlete or patient. Thankfully there are a some target strategies for treatment, and one in which we will focus on in this article is applying Kinesiology Tape for Groin Pain.

Kinesiology tape are common method for treating sports injuries and musculoskeletal conditions, by helping  to reduce inflammation, ease pain, relax and rehabilitate muscles, as well as support muscles especially during sport events. As kinesiology tapes can be applied to many parts of the body, kinesiology taping can be applied to ease groin pain as well…

The Groin Muscles

The groin is located in between the abdomen and thigh, beside the pubic Groin musclesbone. It consists of five groin muscles or hip adductor muscles namely:

  • adductor magnus
  • adductor brevis
  • adductor longus
  • pectineus
  • gracilis

The main function of these muscles is for hip joint adduction as well as the rotation, flexion and extension of the hip joint. Strain or injury of the adductor muscles causes groin pain.

Kinesiology Taping for Groin Pain

What you will need:

  • Dr K Kinesiology tape
  • A pair of scissors

What you should do:

  1. Place leg in an open position.
  2. Measure tape from the inside of the thigh down the length – up to two-thirds of the thigh.Taping for groin pain
  3. Now cut the corners to round them, this will help prevent peeling of the tape.
  4. Create an anchor tab at one edge of the tape by folding the tape 2-3 inches from the edge. Tear the backing (paper) at the line.
  5. Now put the base of the tape high up on the adductor muscle with no tape tension, and rub it to stick properly.
  6. Peel the remaining backing (paper) of the tape then stick the tape down applying 50% tension. Apply the end of the tape (around 1 inch) without any tension.
  7. Measure another piece of Kinesiology Tape to be used to run horizontally across theTaping for groin pain 2 affected area. Do the same preparation by rounding the corners of the tape to avoid peeling. Tear the backing at the middle, exposing the tape at the center.
  8. Now put the kinesiology tape on the inside of your thigh (or the affected area). Apply with 75% tension, leaving the edges without any tension.

What you should remember:

  • Avoid using lotions or any type of moisturizer on the area where the kinesiology tape will be put on to avoid easy peeling.
  • When dressing, be careful to avoid clothing catching and peeling the tape
  • After showering, pat dry the tape application to peeling the tape.
  • Use snug fit shorts as a support to keep the tape from peeling off your skin.

What is Groin Pain?groin pain

At some point, one could experience groin injury which could cause pain to the concerned area. Minor groin injuries would usually heal on its own, and targeted treatments like kinesiology taping to relieve the pain and speedy up recover. On the other hand, severe groin pain which causes great discomfort while sitting or walking should be given special medical attention.

 

Possible Causes of Groin Pain:

  • Sports-related activities or recreational activities such as football, rugby, tennis, soccer, skiing, skating and basketball.
  • Fall or direct blow to the groin.
  • Leg was turned in an abnormal position.
  • Exercise, running, lifting, pushing and pulling activities can lead to strained or torn groin muscle.
  • Various health conditions like:
    • inguinal hernia
    • mumps
    • kidney stones
    • bursitis
    • avulsion fractures
    • stress fractures
    • hydrocele
    • epididymitis
    • orchitis.

Treatment for Groin Pain

Home Care:

  • Take a rest and protect the affected groin area for about 2 weeks. It is also advisable to temporarily stop or to change the activities that have caused you groin pain. It is best to avoid doing intense activities which affects the groin.
  • Take pain relievers or anti-inflammatory drugs such as Naproxen and Ibuprofen to help relieve the pain.
  • Apply cold pack to the concerned groin area to reduce swelling.
  • Wear underwear which helps support the injured area; for males, jockey shorts with a snug fit and for females, work-out underwear or shorts with a snug fit.
  • Another excellent way of relieving groin pain would be Kinesiology Taping.

Seek medical care when:

  • Experiencing burning or severe pain
  • Experiencing continuous groin pain without any apparent reason.
  • Changes such as testicular growth or scrotum swelling.
  • Blood in urine.

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Our main purpose is to educate you with the most-updated sports-related medical techniques available. And one of such includes the healing and therapeutic properties of kinesiology taping.

We hope we were able to help you through our discussion above. You can like or share this article if you want to help educate others about the wonders of Kinesiology Taping. If there are other topics you’d want us to cover, your suggestions will be deeply appreciated…

Kinesiology Tape Application Principles

Kinesiology Tape Application Principles

Dr K Kinesiology Tape

Dr K Kinesiology Tape

It’s well known that Kinesiology taping is very effective in alleviating muscle and joint pain, as well as preventing over-contraction and provide support.

It is still very important to know the fundamental kinesiology tape application principles to maximize the benefits it can give you. And since wrong application methods would reduce the effectiveness of the tape, we’ve come up a comprehensive guide to help you get the most from Kinesiology taping…

Kinesiology Tape Application

Here’s a video with Kinesiology taping expert Mr. Adam Collyer giving easy-to-do application principles…

Skin Preparation

  • Ensure the skin is clean and dry.
  • Do not use any type of moisturizers (i.e. oil, lotion) because these would affect the adhesiveness of the Kinesiology tape on the skin.
  • Remove excessive hairs on your skin by shaving or clipping to ensure these would not affect the application of Kinesiology tape.
  • Avoid applying the tape on skin areas with cuts, scrapes, burns, sunburn or any kind of skin irritation (e.g. rashes, allergy)

Tape Preparation                                                                               Rounded Corners 300

  • In preparing the tape, rounding the corners or cut the edges of the tape. Corners of the tape might become catching points on clothing, and other things which could affect the Kinesiology tape’s adhesiveness. Cutting the edges is a vital step in helping stop the tape from peeling off.

Tape Tension

Tape tension is one critical factor in Kinesiology taping. Tape tension can vary depending on different circumstances involved. For swelling problems, 25% tape tension could be applied. Tension applied generally on muscle and joint problems is usually 75% tension. For support or correction of injuries, 75% tension can be applied.

Another important thing to consider is to apply “no tension” on both ends of the tape. If no tension is applied on both ends, the tape provides lifting effects whilst provide better decompression of the Kinesiology tape. On the other hand, applying tension on the ends will compress the tissues more than unload or decompress it.

Tape Application

 In measuring the tape, ensure that the tape will have to cover the “stretched” muscle/joint. This is to allow full flexibility of the tape and to avoid impeding the patient’s activities. Furthermore, this allows better decompression whilst more effective in muscle functioning. The rationale behind having the stretched muscle length equal the tape length applied is that when you move to shorten the muscle, the tape will shorten as well and thus allowing lifting and decompression.

Once you’re done with the skin and tape preparation – then you’re already set to apply the tape! Here are two application methods you can follow:

1. End-to-End Tape Application: Create an anchor tab near one edge of the tape by folding the tape 2 or 3 inches from the edge. At the line, tear the 2 or 3 inches of the backing (paper) then create a crease which you can use to peel the tape from edge to edge. Now in applying the tape, simply stick the edge of tape (the part with torn backing) then rub it for a few seconds. Finally, pull and remove the remaining paper backing from the tape starting at the anchor tab created.

Capture1 Capture2 Capture3

Note: Remember not to touch the adhesive and that’s why creating an anchor tab is important in Kinesiology tape application. If the tape’s adhesive is touched, it will already stick and this would affect the adhesiveness, longevity and effectiveness of the tape.

2. Center Tape Application: Horizontal pieces of tape can also be used to further provide better decompression to the tissues underneath the skin and unloading support over the injured part of the body. In this method, the tape is folded at the center. Tear along at the middle line and then peel the backing apart before sticking the tape over the injured part. This tape application method is applied similarly to Band-Aid plasters.

Capture11 Capture22Capture33

Tape application tip: The Kinesiology tape is heat activated and rubbing the tape would activate its bonding agent which helps it stick on the skin effectively. Rubbing would maximize the tape’s effectiveness whilst allows the tape to stay on the skin much longer.

Post-Application Tips

An important part of Kinesiology taping is to ensure that the tape would stay onto the skin effectively. Some points to consider are:

  • Prevent it from catching on other things such as clothing or accessories
  • Pat Drying the application area (avoid rubbing the tape when wet)

If the edges of the tape starts peeling off, prevent further peeling by trimming and removing those parts. Afterwards, give the remaining tape some rubbing so that the bulk of the tape will still stay on the skin even when small portions of the tape were already removed. Most probably, the removal of these small parts wouldn’t significantly affect the Kinesiology tape’s effectiveness.

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                In this regard, we would certainly love to know whether we were able to provide you the information you needed. If we were able to help you, feel free to share or like this article and video J You can also suggest other sports-related medical topics that we could cover later…

 

Kinesiology Tape a Corked Thigh

Kinesiology Tape: How It Works

Kinesiology tape is gaining popularity not only among athletes but also among ordinary people. You might have seen it being worn by basketball players, gymnasts, runners, cyclists and olympic athletes. It’sthe beige, black, pink or blue-colored tape that looks so cool and trendy on their skin.

But really, what is Kinesiology tape all about?

How does it work?

Here’s another video from the Doctor K series, with Kinesiology taping expert Adam Collyer, from MCPhysio, talking about how this tape works.

How Can Kinesiology Tape Help You?

Kinesiology tape can help you in:

1. Removing lymphatic fluid congestion

How Kinesiology Tape Works

Once applied to an injured area, kinesiology tape pulls the skin’s upper layers, creating some space between the muscle and the skin.

That space eases the pressure to the lymph channels, allowing lymphatic fluids to flow more freely.

 

 

 

 

2. Relieving pain

How Kinesiology Tape Works

Kinesiology tape also reduces pressure on pain receptors that change how your brain and body respond to pain.

These small receptors stimulate the nerves in your skin. Those nerves consequently send messages to your brain that everything is alright.

 

 

 

 

3. Speeding up the healing process

How Kinesiology Tape Works

On the other hand, kinesiology tape’s properties also assist an increased healthy blood flow through the application area.

This enables the blood to carry oxygen and other nutrients to the injured area, causing it to heal faster.

 

 

 

 

4. Reducing Swelling and Bruising

Kinesiology Tape a Corked Thigh

Do you see the wave-like pattern on the adhesive side of the kinesiology tape? It’s there for a purpose – to gently lift the skin from the muscle in order to create a miniscule space in between.

This reduces the swelling and facilitates the healing of bruises.

 

 

 

5. Supporting muscles in movement

Hamstring Kinesiology Tape

How can such a tape support muscles?

It all boils down to the shape used in the application and the variety of tension strengths. Think of this application as a reinforcement of your anatomy.

You follow the natural curvature of the muscle involved, surround it with some tape so that when it pulls back, the muscle underneath contracts as well.

Thus, the muscle is supported and receives minimum stress. Perfect for people with weak muscles or those who are recovering from injuries.

 

 

6. Correcting joint misalignment

Elbow Kinesio Tape

Yes, Kinesiology tape can correct joint misalignments.

To make this application work, you need to balance the various structures that are tugging at the joints.

The aim is to balance the different structures pulling on the joint.

This may require facilitating one muscle and inhibiting another.

It may also require a correction to the joint itself to hold it in place for proper alignment. This will vary by joint and the underlying pathology.

 

7. Relaxing injured muscles

Back Kinesiology Tape

Athletes, specifically, are prone to muscle injuries due to the great deal of stress that they have to deal with on a frequent basis and the quick, abrupt movements they make.

Kinesiology tape, when applied to an injured muscle, restricts its movement, and supports it during activity.

 

 

 

8. Preventing recurrences

ankle

Resting, icing, compressing and elevating only provide relief to an injury.

Unattended, these injuries may recur anytime. Proper application of Kinesiology tape not only relieves pain and inflammation.

It can provide the right condition for faster complete healing, and even providing protection against re-injury to the affected area.

So, if you or any of your loved ones need relief from pain or help in recovering from injuries, consider using Kinesiology Tape. It might just do its wonders for you.

 

 

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Have a most outstanding day,
Cade Arnel