Hi! My name is Maryke. I'm a physiotherapist at sports-injury-physio.com. We're an online
physiotherapy practice where you can consult the physiotherapist via video call. Today,
I'm going to show you how to tape your knee for any pain that you get over the front of
the knee – conditions like patellofemoral syndrome, if you've got an arthritic knee
that's really painful, or just a really swollen knee that's painful, this taping technique can
really help. So, what you need is some kinesiology tape; it doesn't really matter what brand it is as
long as it sticks well. Now, we're going to measure the distance from below the kneecap
all around to surround it to the top. So, I've measured three of them out so long;
I'm just going to add a fourth one. And honestly this is not an exact science. I usually round the
edges because that stops it from catching onto your clothes and coming off too quickly. So,
before you apply tape to the area, make sure that it's clean; and by clean, I mean that there's no
oil on it or creams or anything that can make the tape come off. It's also important, if you are
allergic to any plasters or anything like that, don't use tape on your knees or any other place
of the body because you may be allergic there. So, what you do is, you tear the bottom bit to
free that up, and for the anchor you never apply any pressure on it; you just lay it down. And
we're going to start diagonally underneath the kneecap - that's the tip of the kneecap. Now,
you pull this bit free, and you keep it about 50% stretched when you bring it around, and you just
lay it down. And then the last bit is without stretch again, otherwise it will just peel off
when the person starts moving. You'll also notice that my knee is at about 90 degrees flexion;
if I had it straight and applied it, first of all it wouldn't stick well, but second of all,
when the person then goes to bend their knee, it'll just come off. Okay, so now we're going
to repeat it for the other side. So, you tear the bottom bit, that's just going to be your anchor.
Now, bottom of the kneecap, we're just going to start to the side of it and ... we surround it;
giving it a little bit of stretch but not too much. Last little bit - no stretch on it ... And
then we do the same with the last few pieces. Now, if you're quite a small or tiny person,
your leg may not have enough space for two pieces of tape. Doesn't matter. I'm just using two on
myself, as my legs are quite broad, and it will surround it better. There is no magic in this
tape. The tape provides its pain relief from the sensation it gives on your skin. The second thing
is that it just provides a little bit of support when you stand up; you'll feel that it feels quite
secure. And then the last thing is that it lifts the skin micro-millimetres and just helps with the
lymph drainage. So, if you've got quite a swollen knee, it can be quite good for the swelling in
it. Okay ... And the last one. And you'll notice that I'm overlapping the previous tape by roughly
half. So, make sure that it sticks; give it a good old rub. Now we've got one piece left, and
for this one you've got to measure the distance from side to side ... And we'll just round the
edges again ... Now for this, you tear it right through the middle, fold them back on themselves,
don't touch them – the tape – because otherwise it won't stick that well. Now you really pull it,
and we're going ... That's the bottom ... or the lower point of the kneecap, we're going
just below that. You give this bit quite a bit of stretch; pull it up, stick it down, and then the
last bits – there's no stretch on it, otherwise they will just come off. There we go! Okay. And
then the finished product, once you stand up, will look like that, which is not very pretty,
but it really does the trick. If you want to see more information about taping techniques and other
information regarding injuries, check out our blog at sports-injury-physio.com. Thank you!