♪ Bob and Brad ♪
♪ The two most famous ♪
♪ Physical therapists ♪
♪ On the internet ♪
- Hi, I'm Bob Schrupp, physical therapist.
- Brad Heineck, physical therapist.
- Together we the most famous physical therapists
on internet.
- In our opinion, of course, Bob.
- We really decked out here today.
- Oh, you bet.
- Okay, Brad,
we're gonna talk about Kinesio Tape.
You know, is it a scam, a fad?
Is it hype? Does it work?
- Right.
- You know, so these are some of the questions
we're gonna try to answer today.
- So we're talking Kinesio Tape.
- Kinesio Tape.
I'll put the spelling on the screen here.
- You can get this from a therapist,
from a trainer.
You can go to the pharmacy
and buy it right off the shelf now.
- Sure.
And you can go on, obviously,
on a website and get it yourself too.
Now, it's a brightly colored tape which-
Which one should I use here, Brad?
- That one.
- This one?
It's a brightly colored tape
that is hypoallergenic
and it's a cotton,
made out of a cotton.
And normal athletic tape doesn't really stretch.
- Right. It's mechanically sewn.
- Yeah. This will stretch 40 to 60%.
So it'll actually double in size
just with the stretch.
- But only in one direction.
'Cause if you go this way,
there is no stretch.
- Oh, interesting.
I did not know that.
- Of course.
I've been doing my homework, Bob.
- All right, good.
This tape was, probably,
first maybe noticed it in 1988 you said?
At the Olympics?
- Well, that's when it was widely noticed,
it was invented in the '70s by a chiropractor in Japan,
but yeah,
in '88 they had it in the Olympics
and got lot of attention.
- Yeah. They donated it to 58 countries.
And the problem with the tape
is that they initially claimed
it treated everything from shin splints
to sciatica,
lymphedema, increased strength.
And, to me, Brad,
whenever anything comes out
and they start claiming that it treats everything,
I'm skeptical.
- Sure.
- All right. Anyway.
And so was an organization
out of the UK, United Kingdom.
It's called the Advertising Standards Authority.
They actually sued
the company that was making-
One of the companies that was making this
and saying they can no longer use the claims
that they were saying that they could treat.
And now you look,
and I had trouble finding out
what they actually even treat
because they don't make hardly any claims now.
- Right. Right.
- But with looking at the studies,
the main line to understand is
that there's been a minimal of high quality studies
to support the use of Kinesio Tape,
a minimum of high quality studies.
There's a fair amount of studies,
not a lot,
but there's a fair amount of studies
that kind of go back and forth.
- Sure.
- And I went on PubMed and looked myself,
and yeah,
there was a lot of studies that showed
that it increased grip strength,
like if you used it on the right muscles.
And there were studies that showed
it didn't increase grip strength.
Almost the same type
of taping on the extensor here.
- Sure.
- There were studies-
None of the studies showed
that it improved proprioception.
- Okay.
- Some of the studies, you know,
for pain relief,
it did work for that.
Some it didn't.
So it just kind of went back and forth.
So there's just no definitive answer
as to whether or not it really does improve,
does the things it says.
- Sure.
As you can probably see,
Bob and I don't use this tape in the clinic.
I did some research on it
and the theory of it,
it stretches and it puts a little wrinkle in the skin,
all across the surface of the skin,
which increases the lymphatic flow
and more circulation under the skin,
therefore better circulation,
better healing,
better you know-
- Right.
And sometimes it's used for support.
- Right.
But not like-
- Not like the athletic type.
- Different kind of support.
- And I think, you know,
one of the things what turned me off is,
and I went to a course,
I've gone to a couple courses,
and one of the things the instructor was showing me is,
okay,
somebody's arm was up this high
and they go,
"Now we'll try taping. Now watch."
And it went up the same height.
I swear to God, it went up the same.
She goes, "See how that improved?"
I was like, "No, it didn't improve.
It's the same height."
But believe me,
there's a lot of articles,
a lot of very good therapists out there
that will support this.
- Right.
- You know, should you use it?
Personally,
I wouldn't use it on any serious injuries.
You know, like a rotator cuff tear,
a meniscus tear,
or something along that lines.
I mean, if you had Achilles tendon tear.
I mean, I certainly wouldn't use it for that.
But first off,
it does not harm anything.
- As long as you're not allergic to the adhesive,
there is no harm.
- And it's hypoallergenic.
It does stay on better than regular tape.
- Sure.
- 'Cause they pretty much have proven that.
It's more comfortable.
It is fashionable.
I mean, that's why all the bright colors.
- Right.
When you see football players and Olympic athletes,
you gotta figure,
"Hey, this one must work or they wouldn't use it."
- Right.
- But remember,
those same athletes are very superstitious.
That's why when they run outta the locker room
they'll hit that,
you know, that sign on the wall to get good luck.
And when they put that tape on-
- Yeah.
They feel like they're going into battle
and they're doing everything they can.
And there's definitely a placebo effect.
And you know what?
A placebo effect,
whether it is effective or not,
it still works.
- You better believe it.
- So if an athlete feels better
putting the tape on,
it certainly would work.
And you know, the final thing is, Brad,
you had one final use for it.
Right?
- Well, I'm just gonna say,
if you want to use it
and it works for you,
go ahead and use it.
If your therapist likes it
and you wanna use it,
I'm not gonna say not use it
but there isn't a lot of studies.
But if you take this as one for sure thing
and don't take this as an insult,
if you're a serious taper,
but you know,
if I got Bob here,
and this is where I'm gonna put it on him.
Okay, Bob.
(Bob mumbles)
(Brad laughs)