Benefits Of Taping On Remedial Massage Therapy

We’ve all seen those footy players with endless strapping on their bodies to help prevent or support an injury, but this tape is not aimlessly bandaged on these athletes! Believe it or not there is an art to this essential skill and we have the scoop from our Lead Massage Coach in WA, Angelo Peghini, on how YOU can incorporate sport strapping to your remedial massage therapy business. Taping is a technique commonly used throughout the medical, allied health and fitness industry and as Remedial Therapists it gives us an extra dimension for treatment of our clients. There is research available concerning the effectiveness of different taping techniques and basically it comes down to whether we are taping for stability or movement. The advent of Kinesio styles of taping for movement (KT tape, Rocktape) rides upon the technology available in different types of tape. From single stretch, universal stretch or no stretch, this coupled with the old standards of rigid taping in differing styles all adds to the richness of choice to the discerning Remedial Massage Therapist. The benefits of taping are numerous, so here are a few reasons why having this skill can help broaden your client base and help your business:

• Prevent injury
• Promote improved circulation and healing
• Relieves myofascial pain
• Scar and soft tissue modification
• Edema reduction
• Muscle support and re-education
• Joint support (correction)
• Postural re-education
• Support and protect weakened joint structures
• limit harmful movement
• prevent worsening of injury
• allow earlier return to activity or sport
• Muscle retraining
• Improve joint alignment
• Improve or maintain joint stability

With the vast number of benefits taping can have for our clients, there are alway precautions you should have front of mind to ensure we are providing the best service and results. When working with a client, make sure you communicate effectively to determine any possible contraindications to taping and or bracing. You want to clearly convey information about the purpose and process of taping and refer athletes to a medical personnel for further expert advice where required. When selecting a Taping course for your clients training, it is vital you take into consideration the principles of biomechanics and ensure understanding of human movement and the impact of injury. In addition to this, an expert taper would understand the anatomy and physiology of various joints and their relationship to other body systems as this knowledge enables safe taping for human performance in a sport or physical activity. Even though there are plenty of DIY videos out there, it takes a good understanding of the above points to make you an effective and SAFE taper. Furthermore if you are working in a sports environment, a taping certification is generally required for employment. My advice to fellow Remedial Massage Therapists is to get quality training from recognised instructors in both rigid and Kinesio taping, stay up to date with both the research and the technology and value add to your treatments with taping, it is another great tool in your toolbox. AIFs NEW Remedial Massage Therapy program now includes a Sports Trainer Certification which will enable you to manage sporting injuries, conduct sports taping and safely transport injured athletes. To find out more about this program click HERE.