Video tutorial:
Hi, I'm James Gardner, certified athletic therapist and Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Here to talk to you today about a tape job for the knee. One of the common things that we see in sports and in the active population is pain around or underneath the kneecap, general term PFPs patello femoral pain syndrome.
The application of this tape job is aimed to create a little bit more comfort, and also change the tracking of the patella as the knee bends and extends. Common injuries include running, biking, anything where the knee is doing repetitive motion over the course of a long period of time. Any undiagnosed pain, always check in with a medical provider.
For this tape job, I'm going to use two 6-inch pre-cut pieces of tape rounded at both ends. For this application, we're going to have the knee in a nice, gently flexed position. This really shows the borders of the kneecap. As we start the application, I'm going to find the midline of the kneecap. Proceed to cross over the midline and then basically wrap around the knee cap edge coming down another painful point in many runners or basketball players, the tibial tubercle, the bony prominence of the shin. So here I'm going to encompass the patellar tendon as well. As I can lay down the heat activated mobility tape with the analgesic I’m getting that support across multiple areas of discomfort in the knee tibial tubercle. In this case, the second piece of tape is symmetrical.
In terms of application, I'm going to overlap at the top and peel the backside. For tension, you can play around with whatever is comfortable, but really what we're trying to do is house the perimeter of the patella kneecap so I cross over here there's a little bit of overlap which is fine. Ensure that the tape is stuck down all the way around. If I want to further this tape job to ensure that it's staying down, I would simply apply an anchor to the bottom and potentially an anchor that comes all the way around the thigh on the top. But for this, the purpose of what we're trying to achieve can be done with two pieces, no anchor is necessary.
Give the tape a good rub with your knuckles to activate the adhesive and menthol. If there is a little bit of wrinkle when you stand up that’s okay. The main thing is to ensure that the tape stretches when you move. This means its supporting you properly.
Until next time!