In the interest of improving movement and thereby reducing pain, you have most likely seen and had RockTape applied to you at some point during your care at Winnipeg Spine & Sports Therapy.

While the traditional thought on “athletic” taping has been to minimize joint mobility and reduce the risk of further injury (i.e. from an ankle sprain), therapeutic elastic taping or kinesiotaping, was developed with the thought of improving soft tissue mobility. While this has shown to be of some help, further insight has now allowed us to see the direct impact of utilizing elastic tape on the skin and the net effect on soft tissue function and performance.

The skin is our largest sense organ. The skin is a megaphone to your brain, providing constant feedback – neurosensory effects. Affecting this sense organ with elastic tape applied in a therapeutic method can achieve a few important things:

• Pain relief – Elastic tape on the skin will lift the skin, relieving pressure on injured soft tissues and on pain receptors.
• Pain relief – Stimulation of large mechanoreceptors reflexively inhibits pain transmission.
• Sensory Cueing to Improve Performance – Tension on the skin can prep and enhance human/athletic movements – athletes are finding this to be beneficial to their training and performance.
• Reduce inflammation – Decompression of the soft tissues below the skin to reduce inflammation.
• Reduce Fatigue – Decompression of the soft tissues can enhance blood and lymphatic flow, thereby improving tissue performance and prolonging physical activity.

Dr. Holliday is trained in both KinesioTaping and RockTape application methods – there is a $3.00 charge for this service. Each RockTape application typically lasts 3-5 days with the water-resistant tape lasting longer. In many cases, it can be helpful for Dr. Holliday to teach you how to tape yourself and further your recovery to improve your performance. Individual rolls of RockTape can be purchased at the clinic.