Taping is far from a young procedure used to treat and rehabilitate joints after injuries, relieve tension and neuralgia. The most common was mainly in sports medicine. Recently, with the growing popularity of fitness, crossfit and weightlifting, this method has become widely used not only by professional athletes, but also by people of other professions.
The method of prevention and treatment
Observing the trainees in the halls, you can notice different taped zones on the human body. However, the most common is taping of the knee joint.
This is because the knee is most stressed, and the joint is not only involved in most basic exercises, in flexion-extension, but also suffers while working with various weights. Fans of cardio workouts also load the knee joint on the treadmill, ellipsoid and exercise bikes.
When there are sprains, pain, or to simply minimize the load, the athlete himself or the teipiatrician trainer imposes teips. They are elastic tapes with an adhesive surface on one side and a cotton membrane coating on the other.
Teips are similar to a band-aid, but differ in their ability to stretch during joint operation. Taping of the knee is carried out using a tape with a width of 5 cm and do it in different ways depending on the direction of action. The overlay is performed for therapeutic, prophylactic or rehabilitation purposes.
With the right arrangement of teips, pain is reduced, swelling is relieved; blood circulation in the knee area improves. With therapeutic use, the mobility of the joint is limited, which reduces the risk of exacerbations and relapses .
Arthrosis of the knee
One of the most common diseases of the knee joint is arthrosis. This is the deterioration and destruction of the cartilage tissue in the joint, which at different stages manifests itself in the form of acute pain and up to complete immobility.
Osteoarthritis is most often affected by women and the elderly. The main causes of the disease are:
- excess weight;
- varicose veins;
- overtraining of the knee joint;
- meniscus damage;
- injuries, dislocations, fractures and operations;
- weak ligaments;
- metabolic disease.
Prevention and treatment of arthrosis using teips
Tapping of the knee joint with arthrosis has a healing character. If for preventive purposes, teips are applied for 2-5 hours or for the duration of the training, then in the treatment procedure for arthrosis, a systematic approach is used. If arthrosis is accompanied by edema, then first, using the taping of the knee joint, swelling is removed by applying I-shaped ribbons along the muscles. Next, Y-shaped teips are used, with which excessive knee mobility is limited. Typically, the procedure for taping the knee with arthrosis is accompanied by drug treatment.
Ways to apply teips on the knee and contraindications
Like any remedy aimed at treatment, taping has its contraindications and limitations. You can not use teip if:
- there are injuries, wounds around the knee joint zone;
- there is an allergy to the sticky substance on the tape;
- applying teip causes itching or redness of the skin;
- loose skin around the knee, as this will remove the effectiveness of the tapes.
There are several techniques for applying teips:
- Puffiness reduction. To do this, on a leg bent in the knee joint above the cup, the skin is raised and fan-shaped ribbons are placed for lymphatic drainage effect.
- Improved mobility. Tapes are placed along the muscles with a tension of not more than 15%.
- Reduced mobility. Teiping is performed with a maximum tension of up to 100%.
- Tendon repair. The overlay is carried out by Y- and I-shaped teips with tightening the skin around the joint. Tension within 50%.
In order not to worsen the condition of the knee, it is important to remember that first you need to consult a doctor and a final diagnosis. Hygiene of coverings before taping must be observed. The optimum degree of tension of the tapes and the free, unclosed patella are important.
The cost of teips and teipiatrician services
Today the taping market is represented by various brands such as Apec, Kinesio, SpiderTech and others.
Each has a line of budget and expensive teips. Budget tapes include rolls (from 180 rubles per roll of 5 meters). The disadvantage of such teips is that only a teipiatrician who can also ask for payment for his services (from 1000 rubles on average in Moscow) can cut off the right length and shape correctly.
There are medium priced chopped Y- and I-shaped tapes. An ordinary user will be able to cope with them, only such lengths are not always suitable.
There are also ready-made piece plasters for a specific taping zone. They are the most expensive (from 100 rubles apiece), but it is easiest to deal with them by following the instructions.
If we consider the service of a professional doctor, we must take into account that taping of the knee joint at a price will consist of the cost of the material, as well as from the level of the institution in which the specialist takes. Most fitness clubs have trainers who have a kinesioteiping certificate and include a taper service in the cost of personal training.