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Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine: Using Kinesio Tape® to Treat Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome
By Dr. Barton Bishop
September/October 2011
Running is a grueling sport. In fact, I believe that humans were probably not supposed to run; millions of years ago, we only walked or sprinted (remember this for later in the article). But, that doesn’t matter, because running is really fun. It is great exercise, good for the heart, and good for the soul. Unfortunately, running can also cause knee pain, Achilles’ tendon problems, and hip pain. In the last few years, a new method for treating injuries such as these has become more popular: Kinesio Tape®.
Do you ever get into the groove of your run and feel that nagging in the outside of the knee that someone told you is IT band syndrome? Have you seen someone race by you with colorful tape marking certain areas of their body? Sometimes the tape is pink, sometimes blue, but it is always interestingly applied. Well, that is a form of therapeutic taping most commonly known as Kinesio Tape®. It is a technique invented in the 1970s by Dr. Kenzo Kase, a Japanese chiropractor, who was looking for a way to “prescribe” treatment to his patients in between visits. One of the unintended consequences of this taping method was that it greatly helped athletes return to sport more quickly and with less pain.
Kinesio Tape® has four major theoretical effects:
1. Decrease pain
2. Decrease swelling
3. Increase muscular contraction
4. Decrease muscular spasm
Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioners (CKTPs) are able to apply the tape in different directions and in varying patterns in order to accomplish the desired effect. Some of the best practices for Iliotibial (IT) band syndrome are described below.
IT band syndrome is generally an overuse, friction syndrome that causes pain on the outside of the knee. It can be point tender and swollen. Because it is an overuse syndrome, it gets worse with more use, i.e., the pain progressively worsens the longer you run. Consequently, it would also feel better with rest. Using the effects of decreasing pain and swelling, a CKTP can apply the tape down the length of the IT band to “lift” the skin and thus increase amount of space for the IT band. This increase in space decreases not only the friction caused by movement, but also the swelling in the area, and thus reduces the amount of pain.
For sports medicine practitioners, the most important aspect of treating athletes is to determine the biomechanical cause of the pain, not solely to treat the source of the pain. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, humans probably were not meant to run (jog), and we haven’t been doing it for that long. If you follow the barefoot running or ChiRunning movements, you know that there is a lot of money being made on teaching people not only how to run, but also how to run better and faster. Basically, a lot of us run poorly in part because we don’t know how to run correctly and partially because our bodies won’t allow us to do so.
With that in mind, here is another example of how Kinesio Tape® can be used to treat IT band syndrome; it involves a muscle in the buttocks called the gluteus medius. This muscle mainly controls the knees from knocking. This knocking (coming together) motion can actually cause the IT band syndrome. In order to help control and prevent this, CKTPs can apply Kinesio Tape® to the gluteus medius to help it become more active–to help it contract. Applying tape this way combined with the tape applied down the leg to increase the space and thus decrease the friction can immediately decrease the pain.
Kinesio Tape® has literally changed our treatment of conditions like IT band syndrome. It can be worn for days at a time and is waterproof. A provider who is trained in the technique can help runners get back to doing what they enjoy--get back to running more quickly and with less pain.
Dr. Barton Bishop, PT, DPT, CKTP is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Sports Physical Therapy and Certified Kinesiotape Practitioner at the Sport and Spine Rehab of Rockville, MD. For more information, 301-251-2777 or www.ssrehab.com.