Kinesio Tape: A Discussion....

I only recently heard about this stuff called Kinesio Tape - AKA Elastic therapy tape.  My running friend Sal was having problems with his Achilles and started using Kinesio Tape.  I looked it up and to be honest I thought it was a lot of BS.  I am a huge skeptic and have very little faith in "alternative medicine" in any forms.

So what it KT Tape?  It's a thin, sticky, stretchy tape that you can place on a variety of injuries.  After you stretch it and place it on your body it pulls the skin and muscle back and is supposed to realign whatever is wrong.  

The tape was apparently invented by a Japanese chiropractor.  It gained a ton of popularity after a bunch of athletes started wearing it during the 2008 and then 2012 Olympics.  The strips of tape were all over the athletes from their knees, backs, legs and shoulders.  Soon they started being made in bright colors and became almost like a fashion statement. 

So I did some reading on it when Sal was injured and there was not much evidence at all to support that it was helpful in any way.  But some athletes SWEAR by it.  And the skeptics said that it was completely a placebo effect.

And then I got Achilles Tendonitis and it was killing me and Sal gave me the rest of his roll.  "What the hell?" was my thought.  I mean, it can't HURT to give it a try.  So I watched the video and Marc helped me apply the tape to my leg.  I definitely felt a pull and it felt better.  Hmmm...  So then I went out and ran in it.  And much to my shock, it felt better when running, but where I really noticed it was after the run.  My Achilles was MUCH less sore and was more mobile both the day of and the day after the run.

So I ran out last week and just bought some more - in bright pink of course!  I have an attention whore rep to uphold, right?  

 Marc taped me up last night and I went for my longest ever today - 17 miles!!  Achilles felt really good.  

So, I guess for me, the jury is still out - it seems to me like it works - the proof is in the running, right?  We'll see how it feels tomorrow.  And if professional athletes believe it works, I have to believe there is something to it.  But I am also a skeptic, so am I just healing naturally?  Not sure.  The tape is certainly cheap enough, so it's not like I'm pissing away a lot of money.  And it can't make things worse, so for now I'm going to continue to wear it.

One other note - I bought "KT Tape" and it was TERRIBLE.  It didn't stick worth a SHIT.  Peeled off immediately and it didn't seems to pull the skin in.  I will definitely be sticking with Kinesio Gold which sticks to the skin like GLUE and survives for multiple days - including while sweating AND through showers. 

Anyone else out there use this tape?  What is your experience?