United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Has anyone had any experience with Kinesio (spelling unsure) tape for bpi? I have a 7 month old with bpi and the therapists want to use this method to encourage my daughter, Kate, to use certain muscles. Any information would be appreciated. I have asked the therapists to consult TCH therapist also. Thank you.

We used this on Matthew's scapula and it gave him more support and range.

Cindy

I used this with my daughter starting at about 6 weeks to bring in her muscles. I believe we had much success with it. On the smaller muscle areas, such as those down the fingers and even around the wrist, it didn't last very long. (tended to curl and come off). Ask the therapist to put it on you so you have an idea what it will be like.

We tried it when my child was 6 months old. It did not stick properly and kept falling off. This was in summer time so the weather might have affected this.

We have used if for supination and scapula. We have had good results. feel free to e-mail me if you have a specific question.

car_kowal@yahoo.com

My daughter's therapist has been using kinesio tape since she was 3 months old. It helped keep her from overusing her shoulder and it kept her scapula in place when her ROM was performed. The only side effect she experienced was skin-breakdown after continuous use.

Sam's therapist has been using it off and on since he was roughly 4 months old. Mostly for supination and scapula. It seemed to help a little bit but not enough to really get excited about. He gets annoyed with it as well and has a tenancy to pull it off himself now.

Hi Sarah,

I would strongly recommend the kinesio tape. My son is 18 months and it worked wonders. We also started around 7 months. In fact, the bpi specialty clinic (Children's Hospital In Milwaukee) that we went to for monthly evals. kept telling us it wasn't to be used on children under a year due to the risk of allergic skin rash or reaction. They really discourged us from trying it. So, we waited too.

Our PT however, kept suggesting the tape, and another OT had some convincing reports from the tape on bpi, (She had attended some bpi conventions and seminars) so we decided to try it, against the advice from the hospital. I am SO happy we did this, it made a big difference in supination, lessening the contraction, and stabilizing the scapula for weight bearing. It really made a difference.

Ironically, the specialty clinic in the long run, decided the taping was very helpful to his progress and suggested we continue. Go figure!

Also, by the way, we did electrical stim. in PT starting at about 11 months which also makes a noticable difference. (And it was once again, discourged by the specialty clinic

The tape we left on for 3-4 days at a time. We had PT on Tues, and it was removed on Friday. You use baby oil or olive oil to remove the tape, so you don't have to worry about bathing and water. Water won't remove the tape.

I Should warn you that at times the tape did react with the skin, but rarely, and never permanently. The tape is very soft, and our PT tried a small sample piece out on us first, so we could see how it felt. She put a very small test piece on our baby before actual therapy use to test for allergic reaction. At times, the tape would leave a slight reddish mark when removed, but it would disappear in a day or two. The advantages outweighed the rash for us, also our baby never appeared to be bothered at all by the redness.

Monica

I have found that Kinesio tape http://www.kinesiotaping.com works really really well during the use of it. I have found, though, that when Caleb stops using it the gains he gets out of it slowly go away. I have found that e-stim seems to have a much more lasting affect.

Hugs,

Kari