United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I hurt my shoulder over the weekend and have been in pain since. Last night a friend who is an OT came by and did kinesiotape on my shoulder and arm. I've never had it done to be before.

What an INTERESTING concept. Do you know how when you hurt yourself you put your hand on it to make it feel better? Like holding it or rubbing it a little helps neutralize the pain? That's what the tape is doing... it's neutralizing some of the pain.

I also feel the type of support it's giving. It's very slight on some levels and very deep on other levels.

The OT applied it with a stretch so I could feel the difference between a correct application and an incorrect application (you're not supposed to stretch the tape itself - just stretch the body)...and the difference was like night and day and I wanted it off immediately, it felt REALLY REALLY BAD.

So if you are thinking about doing this for your child, get it done on yourself first and get to know it personally. Experience it for a full run (3 days or so. You will come to a great and better understanding.

Wow - what a surprise!

(PS - I have major sensory issues myself, especially with clothing and anything touching my skin- and the correct application made all the difference - I'm amazed at how good it feels)

Jody is now getting tape on his shoulder and scapula and he is like a new chile. No pain and he is more willing to do his stretches. Not to mention his clothes fitting better.(not hanging off of his sloped shoulder)

My daughter's scapula was taped for the first time just 2 weeks ago. I think I did see some improvement, however getting it off was ROUGH!! I did everything they suggested...waiting until the bath, using baby oil, using rubbing alcohol..nothing worked. She freaked out if you even went near it and I didn't want to scare her into not doing it again if I hurt her. My husband eventaully pulled off the small remaining piece about 9 days later. Interesting about the clothes fitting better...I hadn't paid attention to that. Any suggestions on removing it? We haven't been back to therapy, so we don't have it on anymore (that's a whole other story for another day)

I'm so sorry you injured yourself Francine.

When we started kinesiotaping my daughter at 7 years old, the therapist also put it on my back so I could understand what she was feeling. I didn't care for it...so I understood the complaints. After doing the taping for a couple of years, my daughter actually doesn't mind it at all...and thinks her arm works better when she's wearing it. It's on her back to help with her posture and scapula and on her arm to help with her biceps. As far as removing the tape, we now wait until it's been on their 4-5 days and we let her pull it off. She knows what she can tolerate so she doesn't feel pain with removal. It doesn't stay on as long in the summer because she's in the pool so much (maybe 3 days). We tried baby oil at first but it just wouldn't budge. Now we just let time take care of it.

Glad you found kinesio tape useful. But do know that kinesio tape can be used with a stretch, it just depends on how you are using it. I have used it with a stretch before and have had amazing results.

It is amazing stuff! But can be very hard to get off. To the parent that said it was on your child for 9 days, do you know if they used a water proof kinesio tape? 9 days can be that great for the skin. I usually have a max of 5 or 6 days and thats enough for my skin. To get it to come off a bit faster play in the water more. swimming and showers usually make my tape come off much faster.
Hugs,
Amy 21 years old ROBPI from MN

Amy - I'm curious about how the stretching worked for you. It seems that everytime I apply even a slight stretch to my neighbors application, she gets severe skin irritation from it so I've been working really hard at not stretching. She gets actual blisters in any place where I stretch the tape by accident. When I got taped myself, it felt awful to have a stretch in the tape. Do you have full sensation where you are stretching - I'm wondering if it was ok for you because you have decreased sensation in that area? Did you get skin breakdown from the stretch?

My bra strap actually pulled off my tape...OUCH! but pulling off the tape on my forearm was worse because I have hairy forearms. I wish I would have thought about that - I would have shaved the area first. It was like getting a wax job - not that I would ever wax my arms.

Karen I think it is great that you are letting your daughter lead the way to remove the tape. It's quite the thing to do - I don't know if I could stand anyone else doing that for me.

Do either of you know the differences in the types of kinesiotape? Gold or not?

Jody feels like he is stronger when his tape is on and his preschool buddies think that his bandaids are cool. As far as removal- the ot gave us a pack of adhesive removers that are in a glass vial that needs to be broken before application. I tworks good but is very oily. Jody is also very hairy, so we just let the bath and shower help with removal.

-Marlyn
Jojo 4y/o robpi

Fran,
I do have pretty good sensation where I was using the tape with a full stretch. I used it to decrease pain and tingles in my rhomboids area.

I dont have any pictures of that particular taping but will try to explain what we did. We used about a 5 to 7 inch piece of 3 inch wide kinesio tape and cut it so it would have 5 tabs (about two inches into the 3 inch piece) of about equal size. Then with paper tension, apply the one edge of the tape (with out tabs) down along the spine, NOT on the spine BUT next to it. Once that is on, take each tab and apply with a full stretch. It kind of looks fanned out a bit when it get on.

Worked amazing at reducing pain from scapular instability as it made my rhonmboids kick in a bit. Then for me we took a one inch stip and applied that along my upper trap so not only were my rhomboids getting the stim they needed, my traps were relaxed.

I only ever have trouble with the tape if I apply it too close to my armpit (was using it to stabalize my scap with a taping that started in my arm pit but had to stop that...such a bummer too because it felt amazing!) or if I leave the tape on too long I get a couple pimples from it but nothing more than that. If I leave the tape on for more than 5 days, I give my skin a day break before I put it back on just to be safe. Stretch or no stretch, I have never had any trouble with the tape.

A great place to use the tape with a full stretch is on the fingers if they are not coming up like they should. I also have used the kinesio tape on all my fingers except my thumb to increase my ability to extend my figers. Its very cool how a simple piece of tape can make such a difference!

Hugs,
Amy 21 years old ROBPI from MN

Try applying a thick coat of sesame oil about 30 minutes before removing the tape. You can find it in the body lotion section of your supermarket or pharmacy.

The gold kinesiotape uses more of a wave pattern to the tape and is supposed to be more stimulating. Even though they say it has the same adhesive I find that it is harder to get off.

We were in a study which used the 1 inch platinum tape for my toddler, but I have had trouble getting that through a route that my insurance will cover lately. Here is the link: http://kinesiotaping.com/xcart/product. ... 249&page=1

Jane -that's so interesting - why would your insurance pay for one and not the other?