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Sport Tape: Taping for Plantar Fasciitis
Battling with foot pain or heel pain?
To better understand foot pain, let’s take a quick review of foot structures:
There are three arches in our foot: the medial longitudinal arch, the lateral longitudinal arch, and the anterior transverse arch, which are shaped by the metatarsal and tarsal bones and braced by tendons and ligaments of the foot.
The medial longitudinal arch of the foot allows for the proper function of the lower extremity during the gait cycle. This arch heavily relies on its muscle, innervation, and blood supply to carry out its function.
Congenital anomalies (flat foot) or acquired trauma (for example, stepping off on rocks wrong or heavy objects dropped onto the foot by accident) to any element of the medial longitudinal arch can result in mild to severe foot pain or dysfunction in the foot.
Many causes can lead to pain in the foot area. The most common condition of foot pain seen in our office is sports-related overuse type injuries of the foot, which create a significant amount of inflammation in the bottom or heel portion of the foot that prevents our athletes from continuing their sports, better known as Plantar fasciitis.
The taping technique is often used in conjunction with physical therapy and manual adjustment to the foot to treat such conditions.
What does the taping technique do, and how does it help foot pain?
The taping technique has been utilized more and more not only in professional sports treatment but also in regular sports clinics to help individuals better recover and get rid of pain (well, in this case, foot pain, as soon as possible).
There are many effects taping techniques can provide, mainly taping may help:
- Stabilize or support an injured structure
- Relieve pain by de-loading vulnerable or painful structures
- Facilitate normal movement, muscle action, or postural patterns
Next time, when you visit your doctor’s office for some non-relenting foot pain, ask if your doctor does any taping techniques to help you get back to the game faster. Here is an example of taping techniques that we are using to help our athletes return to the game faster.
See below step by step information on how to use the sport tape and KT tape
Step 1:
Make 3 small incisions on the tape to place between the toes as shown in the picture.
Step 2:
Secure the tape on top of the foot from the toes to just about the ankle.
Step 3:
Place a second piece of the KT tape, and start on the outside of the foot on a diagonal line toward the inside of the foot. Wrap around the bottom of the foot and cut as shown in the picture below.
Step 4:
Place a 3rd piece of the KT tape from the back of the calf to the middle part of the bottom of the foot as shown above.
Step 5:
Wrap the heel and foot with athletic tape as shown above. Two wraps are shown above, the first one, wrapping the heel, and a second wrap around the foot, close to the heel.
Step 6:
Finish first by wrapping the foot with KT tape, as shown above. Wrap around the heel, then around the foot.
This is information only. Please always check with your health providers for appropriate injury management.
