Physiotherapists and athletic therapists have used taping for many years to minimize stress on healing tissues. Therapeutic taping is now being used for many other functions in the rehabilitation field including postural correction.
Benefits of Taping:
The benefits of taping include increasing the biomechanical effectiveness of muscle length tension relationships. Other benefits include passively stretching tight musculature while inhibiting excessive activity in other muscle groups and reducing the neutral zone of hypermobile joints by increasing joint compression.
A common taping technique for postural correction is the auxiliary sling support to restore the scapulae position in upward rotation. Tape is applied to the auxiliary border and is pulled across the back to the opposite supraclavicular notch. Once in place the tape reduces activity in the rhomboids and facilitates increased muscle recruitment of in the scapular upward rotators; lower and middle fibers of trapezius.
Contraindications for taping include:
- open wounds
- dermatological conditions
- active inflammation in the area to be taped.
- allergies to adhesives