Kinesio taping is one of the effective methods of physical rehabilitation used to restore the body’s functions under various pathological conditions (children’s cerebral palsy, Erb–Duchenne palsy, trauma, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, etc.).
HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?
The essence of the technique is that kinesio tapes are attached to certain skin areas in a special way.
Kinesio tapes are elastic cotton tapes covered with a hypoallergenic adhesive gel on an acrylic base. They are applied to the skin. The body temperature activates the glue, which leads to tension of those skin areas where the tapes are located. The tightness of the tape is very close to the tension of the human skin, so it works as if it takes part of the load of the overloaded areas of muscles, helping them to work.
WHAT PROBLEM DOES IT SOLVE?
Kinesio taping allows restoring in a quick and painless way muscles that have lost mobility due to children’s cerebral palsy, Erb–Duchenne palsy, limbs paresis, trauma, diseases of the musculoskeletal system, etc., as well as facilitating movements in the joints.
Therefore, this method of rehabilitation is successfully used in pediatric neurology and rehabilitation.
The effect of tape starts working immediately after gluing and lasts for five days.
Since cotton is a breathable material, tapes can be left on the skin for up to two weeks. At the same time the child is absolutely not limited in movements, and can also take water procedures.
The effect of kinesio taping:
- pain relieve;
- anti-inflammatory;
- lymphatic drainage;
- dynamic (facilitates the movement of the limb or joint);
- relaxing (effect on the muscles);
- anti-edematous;
- stabilizing (effect on joints).
Kinesio taping allows maintaining and even increasing the mobility of the damaged limb, which is especially important in the treatment of movement disorders with children’s palsy.
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF KINESIO TAPING?
Kinesio taping is effective in treating of:
- Injuries and diseases of the musculoskeletal system;
- Motor disorders of different origin (cerebral palsy);
- Deformities of the feet (flat-valgus deformity of the feet, neurogenic anterior clubfoot, hollow foot, etc.)
- Deformities of the lower extremities (X-shaped, O-shaped)
- Cicatricial changes of skin, etc.
Thus, the use of kinesio taping in the complex rehabilitation of the child significantly improves its effectiveness.
Especially effective is the combination of kinesio taping with kinesio therapy and physiotherapy. The child comes for the sessions with the tapes (on a strictly individual scheme) applied on the body, with the already adjusted position of the ligaments, with muscles relaxed or stimulated with the help of the tapes.
This leads to the fact that sessions become successful faster.