At the 2018 British Open golf tournament, Tiger Woods showed up for his first-round tee time with a strip of colored tape on the back of his neck. The corner of the twitter-sphere where golf nerds dwell imploded.
What does the tape mean? Is Tiger injured, again? Why is he wearing it?
At Tiger’s post-round interview, journalists asked more questions about the tape (Kinesio Tape, to be exact) than the golf. Tiger said he woke up with a stiff neck and the tape helped him get loose and stay loose during his round.
Dr. Kenzo Kase, a chiropractor, first developed Kinesio tape in 1979. Today, people use the tape during all kinds of physical activities: golfing, weightlifting, even waiting tables at restaurants.
The tape claims that it keeps muscles loose and reduces swelling. Yet often, the same people who use the tape to keep their muscles loose also depend on old-fashioned ice packs or heating pads to reduce inflammation.
Case in point: a couple weeks after the British Open, ESPN reported that Tiger was taking ice baths to help him get ready for his next golf tournament, the PGA Championship. “Just trying to get some inflammation down” he said.
Clearly, Tiger is prone to muscle stiffness and swelling in his joints and he hasn’t yet found a single solution to both problems.
Countless people are looking for the same help as Tiger. I’m one of them and maybe you are too.
As a former college athlete who still plays basketball twice a week, jogs regularly, and golfs often, I am constantly looking for ways to reduce stiffness and swelling, especially in the muscles and joints around my right knee, which doctors have operated on four times. So, I’m fairly experienced when it comes to sport recovery and performance.
In this article, I’m going to reveal to you the actual science behind kinesio tape. We’ll also take a look at the little-known truth about whether hot and cold packs reduce swelling and expedite recovery.
Whether you’re a world-class athlete or a weekend warrior, I’m here to help you enjoy the sports you love for as long as you want.
Does Kinesio Tape Work?
Well, it’s complicated.
Some of the benefits of kinesio tape are undeniable. For instance, whiplash victims experienced reduced pain and a wider range of motion when kinesio tape was applied immediately after injury. Scientific studies also found that people with chronic back pain experienced significantly less pain when they used kinesio tape.
So if your back is stiff or in pain, or you experience whiplash after a car crash, kinesio tape has definite benefits. It is particularly effective at stretching out and reducing tension around the spinal cord.
The science is less clear when it comes to injuries to shoulders, knees, or ankles.
One study concludes that kinesio tape provides short-term pain relief for patients with shoulder injuries, but the long-term reduction of pain and the long-timer improvement in range of motion, are limited. And there is no meaningful scientific analysis of the effects of kinesio tape on either knees or ankles.
When examining the science behind kinesio tape, it’s necessary to not only look at whether the tape reduces pain, but also whether it improves range of motion.
Proponents of kinesio tape claim this is true. But does the science support that claim? The evidence is inconclusive.
There is some evidence that kinesio tape is better than other tapes at improving the range of motion of quadriceps or hamstrings. However, the amount of benefit has not yet been measured.
What’s The Story with Hot and Cold Packs?
Now, let’s look at the science behind hot and cold packs.
An article published by the American Physical Therapy Association explains that heat applied before exercise helps athletes avoid injury more than athletes that don’t apply heat prior to exercise. The reason is that heat applied directly to muscles increases the range of motion of those muscles.
The same benefit comes from cooling muscles. As the article said “cooling techniques (such as ice) may reduce the amount of energy the body needs to stay cool, leaving more energy for the exercise itself.”
Athletes tend to think that their muscles need to be heated up before exercise and cooled down after. However, science says cooling muscles before exercise has as much scientific benefit as heating them.
To summarize the science: kinesio tape can reduce pain and increase range of motion after an injury, particularly to the spinal cord area (much like superficial heat). However, there is no definitive evidence that kinesio tape improves the range of motion before injury, particularly on muscles such as hamstrings or quadriceps.
On the other hand, the science of heating balms or ice packs is much more conclusive. When applied, heat applications “increase range of motion and assist in warming-up prior to performance.” Cold applications increase blood flow to damaged tissues and improve recovery time.
Using Kinesio Tape With Hot and Cold Packs
While more study is definitely needed, existing studies show that K-Tape has been effective at decreasing short-term pain from injury and improving range of motion and strength in injured patients.
The application of cold packs has been shown to increase blood flow to damaged tissues and improve recovery time. Superficial cold application has also been shown to increase motor function and exercise performance, while hot packs have been shown to increase range of motion and assist in warming-up prior to performance.
Now that we’ve looked at the science, can you imagine the benefit of combining both kinesio tape along with heating and cool applications?
Enter: Sportape Ice and Sportape Fire.
Sportape was developed to combine the effects of both of these solutions into a single tool for fighting injuries and increasing performance. These products are the single solution to stiffness and swelling that Tiger Woods and countless athletes are looking for.
Sportape Ice is kinesio tape with cooling gel infused into the tape. It relieves injured muscles and joints, improves range of motion, and increases blood flow to damaged tissues.
It’s ideal for someone recovering from injury or an exhausting game.
Sportape Fire is kinesio tape with a heating gel infused into the tape. The heating gel can help anyone warm-up prior to performance. The heat also increases range of motion before and during performance.
Maximize Your Performance!
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a world-class athlete like Tiger Woods, at some point you’ll need to reduce pain and increase your performance!
When that moment comes, you can apply kinesio tape, but you can’t be sure you will benefit.
You can apply heating and cooling applications, which will certainly help, but you will have to keep applying them.
That’s a hassle.
Or you can get Sportape and secure a hassle-free, scientifically proven, peak performance. Sportape was created to make your peak performance possible all day long – without becoming its own headache.