Supple therapeutic tape isn't just for Olympians

If you watched any beach volleyball during the Beijing Summer Olympics - and we know you did - perhaps you ogled that grid of black tape affixed to Kerri Walsh's shoulder.

It's called Kinesio tape and, suddenly, it's become all the rage in the athletic world.

But it's not new. Used by trainers and physical therapists in the United States for at least a decade, the 100 percent cotton tape is purported to help hasten the healing of muscle strains and joint sprains, and even prevent injuries in athletes' "trouble spots."

Walsh, who won beach-volleyball gold with partner Misty May-Treanor, used the tape to keep her shoulder loose after repeated surgeries. Others taping up in Beijing included Jamaican sprinters, American water-polo players and Greco-Roman wrestlers.

So what's the advantage of Kinesio tape over the time-honored white athletic tape? Short answer: elasticity.

Whereas traditional tape constricts joint movement, the more supple Kinesio tape is applied to muscles that surround joints. It acts as a second skin, moving with the muscle and increasing blood and lymphatic flow, according to Rob Brandon of the Napa Valley Physical Therapy Center in Napa, Calif.

"For an injury, it's working while you're moving," says Brandon, a certified Kinesio tape instructor who has worked with other physical therapists in the United States and China. "It can be on for four or five days and be helping you with the healing process. It also helps muscles to relax if they're overused or facilitate them to work better if they've been underused."

Two recent studies, published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Therapy and in Sports Medicine, report that this tape is effective. Cyclist Lance Armstrong, in his 2003 book "Every Second Counts," also heaped praise on the tape.

But Brandon hastens to add that the tape must be applied in strategic ways to be beneficial. That's why recreational athletes might not be helped by ordering a roll over the Internet and slapping it on a sore muscle. "For instance, to help the muscle calm down and release the spasm, you'd put it on one way," he says. "To prevent an injury and increase (range of motion), you do it another way."

Still, that hasn't stopped weekend warriors from visiting the Web site (kinesiotaping.com) of Kinesio USA, which has reported a huge rise in traffic since the Olympics. A 16-foot roll retails for $14.95.

Brandon says the tape is not a miracle cure, but it is a staple of his therapy practice. "I look at it like this: If I can leave my hands on someone once they leave the clinic, that's an ideal scenario. This tape allows me sort of to do that."