Alternative Treatments

KT Tape for Hamstring: Effective Way to Treat

Is watching the Olympics and other sports tournaments your favorite hobby? Are you also an active person who likes to challenge your muscles? If yes, then you must be aware of the colorful straps worn by athletes. Those are kt tapes which are beneficial for providing support to injured muscles or joints without restricting the emotions during neurological disorders.

This tape also helps to aid in faster muscle recovery and prevents cramps or spasms, over-stretching or over-contraction of muscles. It has been advocated as a means of providing improvement and relief to provide muscle flexibility.

You would be stunned to know that hamstring stretches(1), and injuries are prevalent amongst the people between the age 16-25 years that makes it to almost 33%. People resort to many treatment options, and if it is of higher intensity, it cannot be treated by you. But for the lower intensity stretches, Kt strips are a must. Learn all about its usage, benefits, and Do’s and Don’ts all in one read. Scroll down for more.

A Brief About KT Tape for Hamstring

Kt tapes first came into notice in the Beijing Olympics 2008. With the upcoming years, the popularity of Kt tapes began to rise in the field of sports injuries. After its involvement in the medicinal practices, it became a part of mainstream involving with the physical therapy, and various other medical procedures.

A Kinesiology Tape is a thin and elastic tape that has the capability of providing relief from the pain. It is beneficial, as it enhances the performance of an athlete. The tape is made up of either cotton or a synthetic along with Lycra. It does not have any latex or drug in its composition.

Treating a Hamstring Pull with KT Tape?

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Kinesiology is known for providing better treatment for treating a hamstring pull, as it enhances the flexibility of muscles, and decreases the risk factors of the cause of injury. If you want to see immediate flexibility in your hamstring muscle and get useful results then you should go for Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Stretching (PNF Stretching) and SS (Static Stretching).

These stretching exercises are advantageous for treating a hamstring pull. The external factors play a crucial role in providing benefits to the effectiveness of Kt tapes. Kt tape hamstring helps in giving relaxation to the soreness caused due to the micro-tearing of muscles.

[Read: KT Tape for Knee Pain Relief]

Types of Pulled hamstring

Yes, Kt tape can be functional for almost all kinds of hamstring pulls. Namely,, three grades distinguish the painful hamstring injuries. These are –

Grade I:

In Grade l, the severity of illness is very mild including a sense of discomfort. It does not cause any disability in performing actions. It is not responsible for hindering or limiting regular activities.

Grade ll:

Moderate amount of discomfort arises in the Grade ll, and this level of grade can limit your regular activities such as running or jogging. The average amount of bruising and swelling occurs in the injured part of the body.

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Grade III:

This grade is the case of severe injury, and the individual suffers from a high amount of pain. It can also cause pain while walking. People with this severity complain that they have bruising, swelling and spasm.

One can use Kt tape to deal with Grade I and II types of severity of pain, but in the case of Grade III, it is better to consult a professional.

How Does a KT Tape Help to Treat Hamstring Stretch?

Hamstring Stretches occur due to a lot of reasons, but the main reasons are – improper rest, over exhaustion of the body due to continuous physical activities, abrupt movement of muscles, inadequate nutrition, and overstretching of a muscle to a greater extent. Lack of training inflexibility can cause many hamstrings(2) in our body. Kt tape hamstring application is a very beneficial application that can treat tightness, soreness, tears, and pain at the hamstring region.

Since hips move with the muscles while walking, the tape doesn’t let the hips to contract the injured muscles,. The increased blood circulation regulates anti-inflammatory and more nutrient properties to the damaged area. The additional nutrients, there is an assurance that there will be fewer chances of re-injury and the increased time of healing.

Expected Benefits of KT Tape for Hamstring

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The Kt tape hamstring benefits are not any less in number. Kt tape can treat Tendinitis, upper back or neck pain, bruises, and muscle weaknesses. The primary benefit includes stopping the infected area from causing a lot of pain. The other beneficial interests are –

  • It helps in providing relief from pain, as well as keeps away muscular cramps.
  • The bruises tend to get better at a faster rate.
  • It takes minimal timing to treat the overuse of the exhausted muscles.
  • Makes the athlete feel active even during the state of injury.
  • It helps in generating the poorly toned muscles to better ones and enhances the strength.
  • It plays a significant role in supporting injured muscles or muscle tears without causing trouble to the direction or range of motion.

How to put on KT Tape?

Kt tape can get over a hamstring after judging the severity of the injury to be severe or not. In the cases of less gravity, micro tears occur in the sore hamstring. In the more severe cases, the muscle fibers stretch so much that it creates a little bleeding due to a complete rupture in the muscles that might require surgery to treat. You can use Kt tape fora hamstring injury, to provide relaxation to the injured tissue and increase the amount of blood circulation across that region.

Apply the Kt tape on the injured area and accompany the procedure with icing, enough rest and light progressive stretching to increase the speed of recovery. The Kt tape is used for some period, depending on the severity of the condition. The procedure might be carried out by severe types of pain and its evaluation on the body. One should always consult a professional in the case of Grade III, whose treatment sessions last for a longer duration of time.

[Read: KT Tape for Shoulder Pain]

What are the Do’s and Don’ts that One Should Keep in Mind for Using KT Tape?

Do’s

  • The skin should be cleaned well with the help of alcohol, skin cleanser or a hand sanitizer before applying the Kt tape.
  • Adjust the corners of each string by making rounds at the ends to avoid the edges of the tape to lift upward.
  • Rub the tape gently and trigger its adhesive before placing it on the muscle injury.
  • Trim the heavy hair growth areas from the body to get rid of unnecessary pain while removing the strips.
  • The tape will not hinder any of the physical activities. You can also perform swimming while you have a tape. After being wet, don’t forget to swab your body with the use of a towel gently.

Don’ts

  1. You should not apply a Kt tape just after exercising or performing any vigorous physical activity. Take the optimum time to let your skin dry first.
  2. Do not apply the tape on exactly over the aching area. This aching area consists of – sunburn, rashes, and cuts.
  3. Do not touch the adhesives present on the side parts of the Kt tapes. Remove the adhesives of one end at a time and then stick it to the injury.
  4. Do not overstretch the ends of the tape more than required as this can lead to rashes and the blisters.
  5. Do not rip off the tape while removing.

Kt tape for hamstring can treat the hamstring strains that occur due to the vigorous physical activity. Kinesiology tape is a technique or natural procedure that can cure the injury with a speedy recovery. It helps in providing stabilization of the injured area. The method is most commonly used for the treatment of wrists, elbows, ankles and lower back. Both athletes and non – athletes can take benefits from this technique.