Surely there are many of you who have noticed that a famous footballer wears colored strips on his skin and you do not quite understand what it is for. Is it for aesthetics or for fashion? This type of bandage is neuromuscular and is called Kinesiotaping. They seek to a greater extent an improvement in the recovery of an injury or, even, a prevention of it.
Although these colored bandages are easily accessible (they are sold online or in pharmacies), they are still a working tool for physiotherapists; so no one better than they will know how to put them on so as not to hurt you.
What is Kinesiotaping?
The word kinesiotaping It originates from the union of two others: kinesiology (study of movement) and tape (in English, tape). It is a practice that was born many years ago, but became popular in Japan across 70 years Thanks to Kenzo Kase.
bandages seek provide support and stability to our muscles and joints, while improving the healing process of the injury that we have. In addition, the bandages do not shorten the movement of the muscle, so their application should not be painful; they can manage to stretch up to 130-140% of their usual length.
If you wonder if you can wear them even if you have some type of skin allergy, you shouldn't worry; are made with 100% anti-allergenic cotton and contain a acrylic adhesive that will prevent them from coming off easily.
How does it act on the muscle?
In the correct application is the key. The slight tension with which it is placed on the skin will cause it to lift and create a space between it and the muscle. With this space created on our stressed muscle, the toxins and inflammatory agents of the injury will be able to circulate and facilitate faster drainage.
It is noteworthy to mention that do not contain any type of medication There is no formula that stimulates the muscle, so only the tension exerted will do.
The blindfolds are not put on in a "pretty" way to be attractive to the eye, forget about showing off! In addition, as we have mentioned before, it is a tool for physiotherapists and its placement is not within everyone's reach. If you're going to do it yourself, you need to know the anatomy and know where the muscle starts and ends, for example. Also, the direction in which to apply them: up, down, left, right...
Does each color have a function?
Wrongly or not, popular belief says that each bandage color has a different property; and as we have already mentioned, the bandages do not contain any medication. Some experts advise blue to relax the muscle and red to activate it, but this is nothing more than a suggestion that the person "suffers". We talk about chromotherapy, in which the colors induce people to feel emotions and think that X colo will help their healing sooner.