Kerri Walsh and the Tale of the Kinesio Tape

There has been a lot of interest in the tape used by American Kerri Walsh. She sported a web of tape on her right shoulder during her beach volleyball matches in Beijing. Walsh, who had shoulder surgery last fall to repair a torn rotator cuff, wears the thin strips primarily to relieve pain. They also correct muscle and joint function and improve circulation by applying compression to the skin. The tape itself, which goes for $15 a roll, contains no medicinal properties.

But Walsh is far from the first high-profile athlete to use the tape, says John Jarvis, director of Kinesio USA. Tiger Woods and Serena Williams have both worn Kinesio Tex Tape, says Jarvis, in addition to countless pro-baseball and football players. And in his 2003 book, Every Second Counts, Lance Armstrong raved about its effects.

While the product has been sold in the U.S. for only about nine years, it was developed more than 25 years ago by Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kenzo Kase and has a worldwide following too.

Source: Globe and Mail, Forbes