You can use Kinesio tape if you experience chronic pain in your neck due to being sore from exercise, to help blood flow during physical activity, or even if you just sit at a desk all day and need some extra relief.
Cut a strip of tape about 10 centimeter (3. 9 in) long, make a cut vertically along the middle to create a “Y” strip, leaving about 2 centimeter (0. 8 in) at the end as the origin point. You can also just use two separate strips of 10 centimeter (3. 9 in) if you wish. Trim the strips to make curved or round corners to prevent peeling, if they are not already.
Grab some soap that will lift the oil off your body without drying your skin up too much. Also make sure that you effectively dry off your skin so the tape sticks.
You want to comfortably bend your neck forward as if you are trying to touch your chin to your neck, but don’t stretch it so far that you are hurting yourself. Stretch the muscles until you feel a taut pulling sensation.
You want to peel the strips as you place them down the neck as if you’re peeling a band-aid. As you pull down the vertical “I” strips, you want you to create a slight stretch of about 10 to 15 percent. This means pulling on the tape just slightly with the end that hasn’t been placed on the skin yet. Depending on if you are feeling pain in the center of your neck or on each side of the spine, you can create an upside down “V” or the fork of a “Y” with the strips or place them parallel. The tails should end near the trapezius muscle, which is just above the shoulder blade.
For the horizontal strip, you want something closer to 75 percent stretch. To do this, pull the strip to full stretch and then ease up slightly. Next, place the center of the strip on the skin first and even it out on either side, applying pressure until you get towards the ends, letting them stick to the skin without any stretch.
When Kinesio tape is correctly applied, it it relieves pain by lifting the top layers of your skin, relieving pressure and allowing for better blood flow and muscle movement. [7] X Research source If your tape isn’t as adhesive as possible, you may not get the full effects.
