Acu-taping
Properly positioned flexible tapes can quickly reduce pain, alleviate inflammation and help tissue healing.
Taping acute and chronic pain away
The most impressive result of Acu-taping is just how effective it is for muscular pain relief (think back pain). As soon as the tapes are put on, the pain is relieved or at least significantly reduced, and the range of motion gets much better immediately.
Why that is the case so far has not been proven, but the gate control theory of pain provides a good explanation. Basically, with the tapes in place, lots of nerve endings are signalling, 'I'm feeling something at the surface', and those signals overlay pain signals from underneath.
A 24/7 takeaway massage
Because the tapes are flexible and stick well on the skin and provide such excellent pain relief, you can move the previously painful area again. Through the body's movement, the taped skin gets 'shifted' in relationship to the muscles underneath, which is what normally happens in a massage. So, as long as you're moving your body, you're basically receiving a 'takeaway massage' in the taped area. This does lead to increased circulation and a decrease of inflammation. Also, bruising disappears very fast under the tapes.
... for up to a week
The tapes are made of a special breathable cotton material, and the acrylic glue is hypo-allergenic and not on the whole area of the tapes. You can swim, shower and even bathe with them, and provided you don't roll up the edges by towelling down too vigorously, they can stay on the skin for up to a week. Because they need to come off at some point though, it's advisable to shave the area a day before putting the tapes on, or you might have a 'waxing' experience.
Frozen Shoulder, torn ligaments and tendonitis
This is especially useful for treating 'frozen shoulder' (adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder) and torn muscle fibres torn ligaments. Because the tapes take away the pain and increase the range of movement, you can and do move the injured area again, which leads to better circulation. And that's what is needed for healing the tissue.
Tendonitis of the achilles tendon and plantar fasciitis also respond well to acutaping, especially in combination with acupuncture.
Internal disorders
Because of the connection of 'reflex areas' on the surface of the body to their internal organs, even internal medicine disorders can be treated with acutapes: Constipation, gallbladder inflammation and gastritis all can be relieved with acupuncture and acutapes.