I strongly recommend this practice, and not only for reducing leg swelling in the air but also for treating injuries, easing muscular contractions, releasing pain, assisting pregnant women with supporting the extra weight of their grown bellies, etc… I will be happy to apply it on you whenever, however and wherever needed!
To explain more about this technique….
Kinesio® Taping is a rehabilitative technique “designed to facilitate the body’s natural healing process while providing support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body’s range of motion”. It was invented by the Japanese chiropractor and acupuncturist Kenzo Kase some 25 years ago and is now used in more than 70 countries around the world and continuously improved through research.
It is safe to use at all ages, from pediatric to geriatric, and successfully treats many orthopedic, neuromuscular, neurological and other medical conditions.
The Kinesio® Tape assists and gives support to muscles or prevents over-contractions during sport efforts or, more often, it is used in the acute stage of rehabilitation.
It is specifically applied to the patient based upon their needs after evaluation. It helps relieve pain, inflammation, edema (water retention), improves circulation, joint movement, enhance performance and prevent injury. By improving circulation of both blood and lymph, it assists the body in healing itself and in returning to homeostasis or its natural equilibrium.
This practice alleviates pain by targeting many different receptors in the somatosensory system of the derma (‘receptors’ or sensors of pressure, pain and movement on the skin) and the layers below (muscles and ligaments). The extreme expanding and contracting properties of the Kinesio® Tape provide sensory stimulation to these receptors during movement. Such stimulation activates an inhibitory system that decreases pain.
It also acts by microscopically lifting the skin and affecting it with convolutions that increase interstitial space facilitating lymphatic drainage and allowing for a decrease in inflammation of the affected areas.
It has been proven to have positive physiological effects on the skin, lymphatic and circulatory system, muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints and fascia. Fascia are an uninterrupted, 3-D web of tissue that extends throughout the whole body and are responsible for maintaining structural integrity, for providing a major matrix for intracellular communication and maintaining blood flow and many biochemical processes. Fascia extend to all fibers connected tissues, including ligaments, tendons, joint capsules, organ and vessel sheaths, meninges, periosteum and intramuscular fibers. In this way everything in the body is structurally connected.
With the KT one can treat joint pain, carpal tunnel sydrome, bursitis, headaches, lymphedema, muscular tensions etc.
In pregnancy the tape can be used to help muscles sustain the extra load, decreasing tensions and fatigue. Or it can be used to reduce edema and swelling of legs and ankles.
The findings of the clinical evaluation or assessment of each case dictate the direction in which the tape is applied, the cut of the tape (in I shape or Y or X shape or more complex cuts) as well as how much stretch will be utilized. The direction in which the tape is applied can be used to either influence muscle facilitation or inhibition. Muscles are not only responsible for the movements of the body, they also control the circulation of venous and lymph flows and body temperature, etc. The failure of the muscles to function properly induces various kinds of symptoms.
Kinesio® Tex Tape can be worn 24 hours a day for 3 to 5 continuous days and is water resistant (but not in salt water!). It can be applied during any phase of injury as it can be clinically utilized to initially reduce inflammation and progress through all phases of rehabilitation.
http://www.kinesiotaping.co.nz/
http://www.kinesiotaping.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_therapeutic_tape
