What Is Rocktape?

The following information has been sourced from the Rocktape webpage.

What does it do?
RockTape is a premium brand of kinesiology tape. First used by acupuncturists and chiropractors in Japan, today kinesiology tape is used by a wide variety of health professionals throughout the world to treat injuries and pain.

How does it work?
Unlike traditional athletic tape that binds and doesn’t stretch, ROCKTAPE is engineered to mimic the human skin. This stretchiness is the secret behind ROCKTAPE. ROCKTAPE stretches up to 180% of its original length but has amazing ‘snap-back’ or recovery. This is what gives ROCKTAPE its performance advantage over other tapes.

RockTape can be used in a variety of ways to achieve different benefits:
When RockTape is applied with little or no stretch on the tape but lots of stretch on the tissue it causes the skin to form convulsions and wrinkle. This creates a bio-mechanical lifting mechanism that decompresses the tissue just under the skin. It is believed that this decompression and having tape on our skin creates 3 main effects:

• Fluid Effect: By causing decompression the tape promotes a more normal fluid dynamic in the taped area. Swelling is better able to flow out of the area, taking with it toxins which result from inflammation and injury. Also blood has less resistance to enter the area bringing with it more oxygen and nutrients vital for healing and recovery. This fluid effect is probably behind the dramatic improvement in swollen and bruised tissue that is often seen when Rocktape is applied.

• Mechanical Effect: As pressure on the vertical layer cake of tissue between skin and bone is reduced more normal slide and glide mechanics between the layers of tissue is restored. It is likely that this is the mechanism that can make someone who can only bend as far as their knees touch their toes in an instant!

• Neurological Effect: A lot of pain generated by movement or muscle contraction is generated by nerve endings in the space between the skin and muscle. As tape decompresses this space there is less pressure on these nerve endings so is reduced or stopped completely at its source. Having elastic tape stuck to your skin is also believed to stimulate receptors within the skin called Mechanoreceptors. These receptors play a part in our movement awareness, or what therapists call Proprioception. Many therapists believe that one of the main effects of applying ROCKTAPE is to improve our Proprioception, which can both decrease pain and improve the way we move.

When Rocktape is applied with more stretch it can be used to support areas where tissue has been strained, torn, weakened or lengthened. By adding more elastic recoil to the taped area, functional stability and tissue ‘snapback’ are enhanced.

Examples Of Rocktape In Use

Rocktape is not just for the sporting athlete as demonstrated in the image below.

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Rocktape can be used as part of the treatment and management of a variety of musculoskeletal conditions, ranging from

  • Neck pain
  • Low back pain
  • Tendinitis / Tendinopathies such as Achilles Tendinitis, Golfers Elbow, Tennis Elbow, Patellar Tendinitis
  • Rotator Cuff Injuries / Subacromial Impingement
  • Muscle strains such as calf strains, hamstrings strains, back and neck muscle strains
  • Anterior knee pain
  • Ankle sprains
  • Postural complaints

The images below are some good examples of how it can be applied.

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Knee pain caused by patellar maltracking conditions can be helped with taping as demonstrated above.  This combined with other manual therapies and medication can be used to treat these conditions.

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Postural complaints and spine pain can also be treated and managed with rocktape and manual therapy.

If you are looking to find out more about Rocktape, its application and conditions it can be used for within the Melbourne City CBD 3000, be sure to check out Principle Four Osteopathy www.principlefourosteopathy.com.

This blog was written by Osteopath Heath Williams.  Heath is the director of Principle Four Osteopathy and Corporate Work Health Australia.  Principle Four Osteopathy is one of Melbourne City CBD 3000 leading Osteopathic clinics.  The clinic is located in the heart of the Melbourne CBD at 29 Somerset Place (near the corner of Little Bourke & Elizabeth St).  Appointments can be made by calling 03 9670 9290 or booking online @ www.principlefourosteopathy.com.