Melissa Leber, MD, FACEP, RDMS, an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
You’ve probably noticed that many tennis pros are wearing a colorful tape directly on their skin, often in unusual ways and patterns all over their body. It’s not just a fashion statement. In fact, some early studies suggest this tape may provide real benefit to those who wear it correctly and, though we still need more research to say for sure, some amateur players and patients report less pain and more stability.
Melissa Leber, MD, FACEP, RDMS, an Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics and Emergency Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of Emergency Department Sports Medicine at The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, explains why you may want to try kinesiology tape. Mount Sinai Health System is the official medical services provider of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Eastern Section and the US Open.
Kinesiology tape gets its name from kinesiology, which involves the study of physical activity and its impact on health, society, and quality of life. It’s often called kinesio tape or K-tape.
Many tennis players use K-tape to prevent wear and tear, or to relieve shoulder impingement, tennis elbow, or rotator cuff injuries. Serena Williams has used it on both legs to support her knees, while Novak Djokovic has sported it on his knees and elbows.
Kinesio tape is porous, with tiny holes to provide breathability. It has a really strong ability to stick to the skin, so you can leave it on for up to a week at a time. It won’t come off even in the shower. It also has a lot of stretch. Companies make various types of the tape with different stretching abilities.
Where you place the tape depends on your injury or problem. If you are planning to use K-tape, you should consult a physical therapist or trainer. They can show you what type of tape is best for you and how to position it. That depends on the orientation of the injured muscle or joint. Sometimes the tape should be placed in a straight line or on a diagonal in relation to the muscle; other times, it’s placed in a circular fashion around the joint.
K-Tape can help in several different ways. For those undergoing rehab, the tape actually helps to support, stabilize, and take strain off the affected muscle, joint, or bone. It’s a mild but real benefit.
Some of the ways K-tape appears to work are surprising. For instance, if you have a knee injury and wear K-tape, it can help with proprioception—your mind’s ability to tell where your joint is in space. Normally, when you have a knee or ankle injury, you actually lose proprioception to the affected joint. Simply wearing the tape on the affected area reminds your brain that you have an injury there.
K-Tape also can help correct the biomechanics of your movement. The tape directs muscles properly and takes strain off the joint. For knee complaints, you can tape the kneecap toward the center, taking pressure off the joint. Similarly, if you tape your ankle, you’re actually not taping it to restrict movement. You’re taping it to help support the ligaments and tendons.
Part of the appeal of kinesio tape is that it doesn’t have any major side effects or complications. Its only downside can be skin irritation, but that’s very rare. Also, kinesio tape doesn’t encourage you to push yourself beyond your limits. Even though it provides support, you can still feel pain, which is your body’s way of telling you to back off.
One potential drawback: the price. A roll that includes enough K-tape for 10 to 20 applications can cost between $7 and $20. So it can become expensive if you want to use it regularly.
Some health providers are still skeptical about the benefits of kinesio tape. One thing I’ve heard is that people are just using K-tape to look cool by mimicking professional athletes. And you can change the colors, so there is a fashion edge to it.
The bottom line: Early studies are finding that some people who use K-tape have less pain, and I’ve seen excellent results for many of my patients. But we won’t have a consensus in the medical community until we have results from larger studies.