As you may recall from our intro post on kinesiology taping, we’re going to focus on each muscle group/joint and show you how to use kinesiology tape in three distinct ways:
- Immediately after injury (for swelling and pain
- During the healing process (correction techniques to restore normal position and allow for healing)
- Techniques to help improve strength + function
In our last post on the calf, we reviewed taping applications for pain and swelling (you can review that here). In this post, we’ re going to be talking about taping techniques that are trying to decrease the activity of the calf muscles and achilles. This is perfect for recovering muscles where you want to provide support and allow for rest so that the injured muscle/tendon can heal.
This type of application is called an inhibition technique. The key for using it is to use the anatomy! Remember, the tape is specifically made to pull on itself. That is what the weird spirals and shapes are when you look a the back of the tape. When trying to inhibit the muscle, you want the tape to move from the muscle insertion to origin so that when the tape pull on itself, it results in an eccentric pull (eccentric = lengthening of the muscle). This is ideal for trying to diminish the contraction which will allow for rest and more importantly recovery.
Muscle origin & insertion
There are two primary muscles in the calf, the gastroc and the soleus. The gastroc is the easiest and most visible of all the calf muscles- it’s the two bumps that pop out when you step up on your toes. The soleus muscle is underneath the gastroc and lower down the leg (think just below the two muscle bellies (bumps) of the gastroc on either side of the achilles tendon/ or mid-way between the knee and heel). Both of these muscles become the Achilles Tendon which inserts into the back of your heel. The main difference between the two muscles is in how they work. The larger gastroc muscle helps you push off of your toes when the knee is straight versus the soleus muscle which does the same thing while the knee is bent.
Gastroc:
Origin- the two heads of the gastroc actually start above the knee on the back of the femur. This is why the gastroc works primarily when the knee is straight (it crosses both the knee and ankle joints).
Insertion- as the muscle moves down the back of the lower leg, it joins with the soleus to become the achilles tendon which inserts into the back of the heel.
Soleus:
Origin- the soleus is underneath the gastroc muscle and starts just below the knee towards the outside of the lower leg (back of the fibular head).
Insertion- as the muscle moves down the back of the lower leg, it joins with the soleus to become the achilles tendon which inserts into the back of the heel.
What you will need:
1) Roll of kinesiology tape
2) Sharpest scissors in the house.
Prep work:
1) Clean skin. This means no oils or lotions of any kind. You want your skin to be clean and more importantly dry. Moisture of any kind = tape will fall off or fail to stick altogether.
2) Hair care. Ideally, the less hair the better. Guys, this means that for best results you will need to trim any long leg hair or shave the calf area.
3) If clean, dry, and hairless skin still = no sticking of tape. Time to get some adhesive spray like Tuf Skin.
4) The tape should last 3-5 days. You can get it wet and shower with it on. Just towel dry it after. No hair dryer! The tape is heat activated.
Taping Techniques
1) Calf Strain
Here is a video demonstration of the application:
Key Points:
- The tape must run from the muscle insertion to origin. In the case of the calf muscles, this means from the ankle up towards the back of the leg.
- Prep the skin first and then place the muscle on stretch. For the calf this means knee straight + ankle dorsiflexed (toes + ankle pulled up towards the knee).
- Apply primary strip WITHOUT tension. The tape works by pulling on itself. Lay the anchor down first (last 1-2″ of the tape), apply the tape and then rub the tape to warm up and activate the adhesive.
- A correction strip can be applied over a particularly painful area. Cut the tape so that it is wide enough to cover the painful spot with 1″ of tape on either side. Round the edges, apply 50-75% stretch to the tape and place it over the painful spot. Then remove the paper backing and lay down the ends. Don’t sweat the 50-75%. Think medium stretch versus maximum “how far can I pull this tape” kind of stretch.
- See the video above for full details.
2) Achilles strain/tendonitis
Here is a video demonstration of the application:
Key Points:
- The tape must run from the muscle insertion to origin. In the case of the achilles tendon, this means from just underneath the heel up the back of the leg.
- Prep the skin first and then place the muscle on stretch. For the achilles this means with the ankle dorsiflexed (toes + ankle pulled up towards the knee).
- Apply primary strip WITHOUT tension. The tape works by pulling on itself. Lay the anchor down first (last 1-2″ of the tape), apply the tape and then rub the tape to warm up and activate the adhesive.
- A correction strip can be applied over a particularly painful area. Cut the tape so that it is wide enough to cover the painful spot with 1″ of tape on either side. Round the edges, apply 50-75% stretch to the tape and place it over the painful spot. Then remove the paper backing and lay down the ends. Don’t sweat the 50-75%. Think medium stretch versus maximum “how far can I pull this tape” kind of stretch.
- See the video above for full details.
References
1) Capobianco, Dr. Steven and van den Dries, Greg. (2009). Power Taping, 2nd Edition, Rock Tape Inc, Los Gatos, CA.
2) Hammer, Warren. (2007). Functional Soft-Tissue Examination and Treatment by Manual Methods, 3rd edition. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Inc, Sudbury, MA.
3) Kase, Kenzo, Wallis, Jim, and Kase, Tsuyoshi. (2003). Clinical Therapeutic Applications of the Kinesio Taping Method.
4) Muscolino, Joseph. (2009). The Muscle and Bone Palpation Manual. Mosby, Inc, St. Louis, MO.