Kinesiology Taping with Rock Tape
What is Rock Tape?You’ve seen it at the Olympics, that brightly colored tape on the shoulders of volleyball players and the backs of divers, and maybe even on a runner at a local marathon. So what is it and why are they wearing it?
Unlike rigid athletic tape that has traditionally been used to support injured joints and restrict movement, Kinesiotape is a thin, elastic tape that moves with the athlete, helping to reduce fatigue and improve performance.
Rock Tape is stretchier and stickier than other Kinesiotapes, so it works better and stays on longer, up to 5 days, even with swimming and showering. It comes in plenty of cool colors and patterns too, so you can wear your team colors or just make a fashion statement if you like!
How does it work? When Rock Tape is stretched and applied to the skin, it wrinkles and lifts the skin. This lifting creates 3 main clinically proven effects.
- Pain Relief. This occurs by decreasing pressure on pain sensitive nerve endings, and by stimulating proprioceptive nerve endings in the skin. The latter inhibits signals from pain sensitive nerve endings and is called the “Pain Gate” mechanism. It’s what happens when you “rub out” the pain.
- Improved Circulation. Increased blood flow improves healing and endurance, while improved lymphatic drainage decreases swelling.
- Increased Proprioceptive Feedback. By stimulating proprioceptive nerves endings in the skin, Rock Tape helps to enhance normal movement patterns.
Who does it help? Dr. Wells uses Rock Tape to provide pain relief and assist healing in our patients with acute injuries as well as to reduce fatigue and improve performance in healthy athletes. Our patients like that it continues to support their adjustments between treatments, 24 hours a day for up to 5 days.
Used as Rehab Tape, we’ve seen great results in relieving the pain of sciatica, lumbar sprains, tennis elbow, and shoulder impingement, just to name a few. We also use Rock Tape to train normal movement patterns during exercise, such as knee alignment in squats, and as a posture reminder, to help you break that bad habit of slumping.
Dr. Wells uses Fascial Movement Taping techniques in healthy athletes to help engage and coordinate movements to increase efficiency and reduce fatigue. Athletes like to use Rock Tape to reduce recovery time while training and to improve performance in competition. Endurance athletes, such as runners, swimmers and cyclists, use Rock Tape to help them “go stronger, longer.”
Ask Dr. Wells how Rock Tape can help you!