Kinesio Tape catapulted into public awareness during the 2008 Summer Olympics in a classic example of Malcolm Gladwell’s “tipping point”. The highly elastic surface tape has been in medical use for more than 25 years, primarily in the past as a stabilizing or corrective force for children with developmental disabilities and abnormal muscle tone.

Body heat activates the tape’s adhesive. Cotton backed elastic fibers arranged in wave like patterns allow the tape to elongate up to 70 percent of its length. Applied to the skin, the tape creates a dynamic or “kinetic” moving support. This support is ideally suited for improved circulation, stabilization of injured areas and increased input to the nervous system.

Lance Armstrong gave Kinesio Tape a glowing endorsement in 2003. The multiple Tour de France winner recalled using the product in his book “Every Second Counts”. He described Kinisio tape as “a special … athletic tape that came from Japan and seemed to have magical powers." "Sometimes we'd be so wrapped up in hot pink tape that we'd look like dolls, a bunch of broken dolls; but the tape worked, so we kept it, because it could fix things."

In spite of Armstrong’s accolades, the tape did not come into general public awareness until 5 years later in Beijing. Amidst an exotic Asian setting, American woman beach volleyball players Keri Walsh and Misty May bumped, dove, and spiked their way to a world championship in sandy, bikini clad fashion. As world attention came to bear on their advancement to world champions, Keri Walsh’s Kinesio taped right shoulder received prominent attention.

NBC’s commentators explained that Walsh was not sporting a tattoo, but rather a web of supportive Kinesio Tape. She had had rotator cuff surgery in the preceding year and was using the tape to provide support and pain relief. “Kinesio tape” was the second most Googled term that week end. On the following Monday the Albuquerque based company, Kinesio USA had 1600 online orders waiting, up from the typical 250 orders per month of previous history.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his New York Times best selling book, “The Tipping Point” described trends spreading in epidemic proportions once a “critical or tipping point’ is achieved. Public awareness of Kinesio Tape “tipped” during the summer Olympics. A spate of high profile athletes are now recognized for their use of the product. Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, and David Becham have all been photographed sporting the tape. During this year’s super bowl, Arizona Cardinals Edgerrin James’ left shoulder was Kinesio taped.

Locally, physical therapist Henry Hershey of Lititz has found use of Kinesio Tape beneficial not only for athletes, but for a wide range of orthopedic applications. “If athletes at the very top of their games benefit from this tape, so can our patients”. Joint instabilities and soft tissue inflammations such as tendonitis and bursitis are particularly helped by Kinesio Tape support. I think of the elastic, kinetic tape as a moving support. In a sense, it is an additional surface layer of skin, connective tissue, helping our patients and athletes to be a little more “thick skinned” with their injuries. It is not a cure all, but it is a tool, a good tool, in our tool box of techniques as we practice physical therapy.”

Hershey Physical Therapy Success Story

Megan Nelson is 27 year old mother of two, a graduate of PA College of Art and Design, a fine artist, and is employed at Universal Athletic Club. Additionally Megan regularly trains and competes in a local Roller Derby circuit with “Dutchland Rollers”. She drives a Toyota Camry with a large window sign: “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much”.

Megan strained her shoulder with a “whip maneuver” in roller blade practice, and further irritated the joint arm wrestling. She was referred to Hershey Physical Therapy with a diagnosis of tendonitis. 

Her treatment at Hershey Physical Therapy included the use of a new product, Kinesio Tape that has catapulted into world wide attention in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Megan was enthused to try Kinesio Tape as a component of her Physical Therapy program. “I’m such a fan of the Olympics; I knew what they were talking about before they said Kinesio Tape. If it can help the Olympians, it should work well for me. Physical Therapy has really helped the shoulder. After just three weeks of therapy, I’m back to practicing with the team, soon ready to resume competition.” 

Her therapist, Rob Krause, PT stated that he used the tape as a component of her early rehab to reduce inflammation and swelling. Additionally, the special elastic qualities of this tape are helpful for dynamic support of the shoulder and for additional stabilization as she returns to competition. “We have had excellent results using this tape for sports and other orthopedic injuries including tendonitis and bursitis” said Krause. 

Practice owner, Henry Hershey, PT, explains that effective use of this new product is just one more example of integrating cutting edge technology and techniques with 26 years of experience in providing physical therapy service in the Lititz community. “Experience our Advantage” says Hershey.

“Wii-habilitation”

A new word has been used recently in local news papers, discussed on major TV networks, and was recently a topic on National Public Radio. “Wiihabilitation” is recognized in an internet search with 44,800 results. We know this is a new word; the internet tells us so.

Wii (registered trademark) is an interactive computer game that requires “gamers” to actually move, as opposed to previous video games where players, except for moving their thumbs, have been completely sedentary. As a Physical Therapist, I have been a proponent for any activity that gets people onto their feet and moving, so when the Wii was mentioned as a “hot”, in demand Christmas gift item this year, I set upon a quest to find a unit for the office. The Wii quest accompanied much background discussion of how effective the game’s movement would be for exercise, and whether real skill was involved in mastering the digital game simulations. It took my personal shopper (aka as Wendy, my spouse of 25 years) from December till mid February to locate a Wii; on that date at least five other shoppers wanted the one unit available in Lancaster. Among those waiting in line for the new gadget were nursing home representatives, since a spate of newscasts and news print articles had featured Wii systems. Seniors in retirement communities are forming Wii sports leagues, challenging, and sometimes beating younger competitors. What is a Wii, and what is so powerful in this game to create such demand?

According to Wikipedia, “Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together, as well as to represent the console's controllers. Wii sounds like 'we,’ which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii.”

A distinguishing feature of the game system is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which detects acceleration and orientation in three dimensions. Interestingly, from a physical therapy perspective, the remote provides for the Wii just what the semi-circular canals of the inner ear provide to humans, integrating position and acceleration sensitivity for coordinated movement. Moving the Wii Remote wirelessly connects the human player to an on-screen digital icon. The icon mimics the human’s movement in various sports simulations including bowling, tennis, and golf. These are games for which we frequently provide orthopedic rehabilitation.

In answer to our questions, the sports-simulated motion can be surprisingly real. Players learn how to throw a ball with more speed. The bowling ball will “hook” in response to delivering the ball with spin. Over swing at a golf ball and lose control. Golf swings must be modified for chipping; putts follow the slope of a green. The system provides feedback and reward which facilitate learning. Make a ten foot putt; the remote vibrates in your hand to the satisfying sound of the ball rattling in the cup. “Strike!” splashes across the screen accompanying the sound of ten pins falling. Sport-specific skills can be practiced and improvements in performance can be graphed, providing reinforcement for learning.

As we have introduced patients to Wii, there is a fast learning curve, and by the time a bowler has the exuberant experience of a first “Strike!” the response is a little like the slot machine winners in Las Vegas: “I want more of this,” or “I want one of my own.” Creating addictive behavior is good for Nintendo, but it is also good for otherwise inactive human beings.

We should all be aware of our society’s collective muscular atrophy; we over-eat and under-exercise. Activity that gets us moving is good, but movement can be much more than just the flick of a wrist. Movement can re-create the joy of tuning our wonderfully created bodies. “Wii-habilitation” can add joy to the healing process, adding more than just plain fun, as we realize, “We need to move”.

About the author: Henry Hershey is a physical therapist living with his wife Wendy in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Hershey Physical Therapy Service is celebrating 25 years of independent private practice in 2008. Henry is a graduate of Warwick High School, Lititz; Millersville University, Millersville Pa, and of Emory University, Atlanta Ga.

The best story wins...

This truism applies to family tales passed from one generation to the next, our countries history told and retold in story form, and in the childhood stories that underlie our religious convictions. The power of a story can be measured by the length of time the story persists through telling and re-telling, and by the breadth of circulation; is it a local family story, or does it spread throughout the world?  The Robin McKenzie story has been told and retold, and his treatment approach has spread globally.

In the 1970’s the Physical Therapy community was electrified by a new and effective approach to treating low back pain and spinal dysfunction.  At the heart of this new approach was a story that literally and figuratively changed the treatment of injured backs 180 degrees.  It is the story of an observant clinician, Robin McKenzie of New Zealand; of a patient doing exactly the wrong thing but inexplicably improving, of insightful analysis, subsequent research, and of the global spread of the McKenzie Technique.

McKenzie’s genius lay not so much in the introduction of a new corrective exercise, McKenzie style extension, but in the analysis that directs the clinician to the appropriate corrective exercise.  The symptoms of back dysfunction change with movement, repeated movement, posture, and position.  Testing and observing the response of the spine to certain movements will direct the Physical Therapist to the appropriate corrective exercise and activities.

McKenzie developed his own examination and treatment methods for spinal disorders, and is now recognized internationally as an authority on the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain. His techniques have gained immense popularity and success, and are practiced throughout the world, on 5 continents and in 22 countries.  The McKenzie Institute International, a non-profit organization headquartered in New Zealand, was founded in 1982.  The McKenzie Institute International has provided education and training in the McKenzie method to over 20,000 physiotherapists, chiropractors and doctors worldwide.

Henry Hershey, PT founder of Hershey Physical Therapy Service has had the good fortune to train in this technique as Robin McKenzie toured the country teaching, and has utilized these principles for the past 24 years in private practice.  We are pleased now to introduce Robert A. Krause, MPT, Cert. MDT.  Rob is a certified graduate of the McKenzie Institute.  Hershey Physical Therapy is the only local Physical Therapy practice offering certified McKenzie technique. 

Millions of people all around the world have benefited from the McKenzie Technique.  If you would like more information or would like to schedule an appointment please phone Hershey Physical Therapy: 627-1285.

-submitted by Henry H. Hershey, P.T.

Everything One Needs to Know About
Ones Back on One Page

Like plumbing in your house or software in your computer, our backs are important and under appreciated until they stop working.  A painful back teaches that everything we do from getting up in the morning till returning to bed at night depends on our primary skeletal support.  Few events have the power to change one’s life more suddenly or dramatically than an acute back injury.  When the back works we are unaware of its function, when the back hurts, we think of little else.

Back injury statistics abound ad nauseam.  If you are reading this with back pain, or with a history of back pain, you are in the company of 80% of the adult population who at some point in their life sustain a debilitating back injury.  At Hershey Physical Therapy we emphasize the positive, and there is a positive message in the above statistic.  Unless the last eight or ten people you spoke to were doubled up with back pain, you can know that back injuries get better.

Back injuries can double one up with pain. If you have never injured your back you will want to know how to prevent injury:

If you have injured your back, you know something about pain, but perhaps you should know more.  Pain has different forms and functions to prevent injury by telegraphing a clear message: “damage is about to happen here, change your behavior”.  Just as responding to chest pain may prevent a coronary, listening to your back may prevent serious injury.  If sitting causes back pain, sit less; perhaps it is time to look for a new chair with better support.  Much of back care is common sense.

If you fail to respond to warning signals, or in the event of an accident where you can’t respond quickly enough, tissue damage results.  Pain now broadcasts: “damage has been sustained to this tissue, you need to avoid certain activities while I heal”.  In almost all cases, back injuries will get better with time and proper care.  In infrequent cases, surgical correction is required.  In rare cases chronic, unrelieved pain syndrome develops.  In this case pain no longer serves a useful purpose but causes significant, life altering consequences.

What should one know about ones back?  Value your health and protect it.  Be aware that injuries can happen, as quickly as slipping on ice.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.  Living in gravity causes joint pain by physical stress, psychological stress damages equally.  Proper posture prevents injury.  Listen to and respond to your back.  Almost all injuries heal.  Positive expectations produce positive results.

Selecting health professionals may be the most crucial decision in recovering from a back injury.  At Hershey Physical Therapy Service we are proud of the experience gained in seventeen years of practice.  We have found a combination of listening, manual therapy with hands on technique, physical therapy modalities, exercise, and education effective in restoring our clients to their previous level of pain free function.  Nothing is more rewarding.

A doctor must prescribe physical therapy, just like controlled medications. Click on Your Referral to print a referral form to take to your doctor.  

Request Hershey Physical Therapy,
the experienced physical therapy provider in Lititz.