K Tape Myths That Are Just Plain Wrong

Applying K Tape can have seemingly miraculous effects on motor control, pain and muscular function. But, there’s also a few K Tape myths out there that sound a bit fishy. Like taping your face to prevent a headache or taping your stomach for indigestion.

We’re here to separate the fact from the fiction. Here are 5 K Tape myths that you simply should not believe…

Firstly, what is K Tape? Kinesiology Tape is a stretchy, cotton (or synthetic) tape designed to mimic the elasticity of the skin. It’s used by athletes and therapists worldwide to provide proprioceptive feedback, pain relief and support to joints, muscles and tendons.

K Tape has rapidly become one of the most used products in sports medicine. Gracing the bodies of athletes and weekend warriors all over the world as they strive to compete injury-free. They're still commonly made from cotton with various blends of nylon, lycra and other materials to add stretch. Some contain latex (not ours), and fabric density can vary greatly.

The inventor of Kinesiology Tape, Kenzo Kase, argues that muscles are ‘facilitated’ when K Tape is applied from the origin to the insertion, and are ‘inhibited’ when the direction is from the insertion to the origin.

This doesn’t sit well with our logical brains. There is no difference in the properties of any length of tape; and once stuck, your body has no way of telling which direction you started the application. There have also been some good studies discarding this theory.

The only time you should worry about direction is it you’re specifically trying to prevent a certain movement (postural correction, prevention of lateral rotation etc). So next time you’re taping someone. Don’t worry about the direction. Use your clinical reasoning to decide which direction is best, stretch the tape or muscle accordingly, and apply.

There’s the possibility here that we’re about to start a huge psychological discussion around the merits of colour therapy. Psychological effects aside, the colour of tape has absolutely no bearing on its performance.

Our red tape is made of the exact same material structure as our black tape. The same amount of fibres, the same glue, the same weave. Aside from the colour, nothing else is different. Your choice of colour should come purely down to taste, or necessity if it needs to match a team colour.

Another rumour that just doesn’t hold merit. You probably believe the same if you’re researching K Tape.

We’ll be the first to admit that there’s still no true gold standard K Tape research. However, there are a lot of really high quality K Taping studies showing positive effects on motor control, pain relief, muscle function and proprioception. 

Once you combine that with the positive anecdotal evidence from the thousands of therapists and athletes around the world who use K Tape every day, it’s hard to argue that it has no effect. We know it does, and if you’ve worn K Tape before, you’ll know it too.

K Tape is not a miracle cure. It won’t fix underlying issues. So, don't allow your athletes to become reliant on it.

K Tape is the perfect tool to use as part of your athlete’s rehab program. Being able to perform exercises with reduced pain and greater control will lead to a greater commitment to the program and a greater chance of achieving full recovery.

As we said above, K Tape isn’t a miracle cure. It’s just tape. Some injuries are beyond the scope of what tape can help with.

Taping your calf may help take away the pain of that minor strain, but it won’t prevent you from injuring it through overuse. K Tape is a flexible tape too, so even strapping your ankle won’t prevent you from rolling it in a pitch divot.

So there you have it! Disregard the fiction and you’ll get great results every time. If you have any other questions about K Tape or anything else taping related, get in touch! We're happy to help!