by rocktapeuk | Sep 17, 2018 | Uncategorised
RockTape, manufacturer of Kinesiology Tape and Physiotherapy products, are delighted to confirm that they have agreed an extension to their current partnership. RockTape is a premium brand of kinesiology tape used by a wide variety of health professionals throughout the world to treat injuries and pain. It can be utilised by athletes and non-athletes alike. RockTape stimulates the skin and provides an increased awareness of movement which can be reduced following acute or chronic injuries. RockTape can also aid in the reduction of swelling and bruising – a common occurrence in rugby! Gloucester Rugby’s Head of Medical Services, Eoin Power, explained: “RockTape helps our players by reducing swelling and muscle fatigue, as well as inflammation of acute injuries, after training or games. “The tape is good quality, easy to apply and has strong adhesive qualities, which is what we need when players are exerting themselves at high levels during games and training.” RockTape Director Simon Bunyard said: “We are thrilled to be working with Gloucester Rugby again, they are a club on the move and we are excited to play a small part in helping them get where they want and deserve to...
by rocktapeuk | Sep 5, 2018 | Uncategorised
On Sunday August 12 2018 Ride of the Legends organised a charity cycle ride in the Scottish Borders for one of its legendary sons, ex Scotland and British & Irish Lions lock forward Doddie Weir who was recently diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease Doddie Weir is one of rugby’s most recognizable personalities. He earned 61 caps for Scotland during a successful playing career, represented the British and Irish Lions on their successful tour to South Africa in 1997, and won championships with his two club sides, Melrose and Newcastle Falcons. A talented, committed and athletic lock forward, Doddie is now facing his biggest challenge as it was in June 2017 he revealed he was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease. From the outset, Doddie has been driven to help fellow sufferers and seek ways to further research into this, as yet, incurable disease and in November 2017 Doddie and his Trustees launched the registered charity My Name’5 Doddie Foundation. Ride of the Legends were asked to organise the ride and led by Peter Winterbottom, and using SIDI PHYSIO (their preferred Medical Support Providers) the whole event went like a dream. Of vital importance to the effectiveness of the ride was ROCKTAPE UK’s generosity in donating supplies of ROCKTAPE and ROCK sauce to keep all the individuals in full working order. This was especially important due to the less than youthful state of many of the Legends partaking in the ride. Riders included the ever young Roger Uttley, Scott Hastings, Dean Richards from Newcastle Falcons, Rodger Arneill (now in his 70’s and a lover of ROCKTAPE!!!), Gary Armstrong, Rob Wainwright, Tim...
by rocktapeuk | Sep 3, 2018 | Uncategorised
I’ve been skiing for as long as I can remember. I always wanted to be a ski racer, battling down an icy slope at break neck speeds… I say break neck because that’s the truth of it, and I’ve got that t-shirt. The feeling of total freedom on the mountain, wind in your face, while playing on the edge of control not knowing what could happen next, is completely unmatched. Competing on the World Cup Ski Cross tour is amazing. Traveling the world, doing what I love. Unfortunately last season was over almost as soon as it began for me. I’ve been struggling with a really bad shoulder injury for 4 years now. Multiple surgeries and extensive rehab work has been my life for a while now, and last December just as I was hitting form and going fast, looking to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games, I crashed and injured my shoulder once again. I’ve learned many lessons in my years of being an athlete and one of the most important things, is to listen to your body. Rocktape has been an essential part of my rehab and holding me together for these last few years. It gives me great peace of mind to trust something so much that I know I can push myself as hard as I need to, and have the support of the tape to keep me moving as well as I can. Whether it be in the gym using my knee sleeves or on the slopes taped, I feel very lucky to have Rocktape support me in all areas. The next steps...
by rocktapeuk | Aug 24, 2018 | Uncategorised
The staff and players of Sheffield United Football Club endorse RockTape for its benefits for players on and off the field. It does exactly what its mission statement says, & helps athletes move more, & move better. We use RockTape with our academy & first team players regularly. RockTape helps our players by: • Reducing swelling and inflammation of acute injuries by encouraging lymphatic drainage & promoting blood flow. • Reduces muscular fatigue after training or games • Normalises muscle tone by activating dormant muscles & reducing the activity of overactive muscles • Distributes physical stress – RockTape allows full movement of the taped area whilst distributing forces to fascia & ligaments RockTape tapes are good quality, easy to apply, with strong adhesive qualities; which is what we need when players are exerting themselves at high levels during games and training. The different size tapes are versatile so we can treat and manage players with most injuries efficiently. We have seen good results when using RockTape with various first team players who have suffered from injury. During games RockTape allows players to feel supported whilst being able to maintain full range of motion no matter what intensity they’re performing at. We use RockTape on players suffering from: • Muscle strains – during the acute phases, during and after rehabilitation • Joint injuries • Pain due to incorrect posture – to provide proprioceptive feedback & correct poor posture • Effusions RockTape have also kindly provided us with RockRub Massage Wax which we use on a daily basis with our players. It’s ideal for deep tissue and myofascial techniques and maintains a...
by rocktapeuk | Jul 18, 2018 | Uncategorised
My name is Ashley Bailey, I’m 21 and I have been playing professional American Football since 2016, I currently play Quarterback in Hrdec Kralove – Czech Republic. I have been playing and practicing QB consistently since the age of 15, both in summer leagues and throughout the winter leagues, with no real ‘off season’. As you can imagine it puts immense stress on my throwing arm, plus the additional contact the sport entails. One of the main keys to a successful throw, is technique. Over the years you develop habits… some good, some, not quite so. One of the things I would do to throw quicker/harder is to put too much stress on my shoulder and back (a result of a bad habit!) leaving me unable to throw without hurting myself further. My passing numbers dropped off a cliff and it left me feeling frustrated as I could no longer efficiently play the game and position I fell in love with. In comes RockTape – I use the 5cm black logo tape. Now, I had been sceptical of Kinesio tapes in the past, I’d never had the need to use any and I didn’t think they’d make any difference to me. I took the roll to my team Physio and he applied it to me before practice. I went out onto the field gingerly, not expecting anything to have changed (the previous practice I had to sit out as I was unable to move my throwing arm at all). After a warm up, and a stretch, I began throwing around and immediately it felt as though I had installed...
by rocktapeuk | Jun 21, 2018 | Uncategorised
Movement therapies have customarily focused on isolated muscles rather than motion for treatments. However, in reality, the body knows movement not muscles. Over the course of my 12-year career as a massage therapist and physical therapist, my thought processes have evolved, compelling my treatments to become more effective. For example, by placing more emphasis on the nervous system than the musculoskeletal system, I have learned we can create neurological opportunities for change through touch and movement; kinesiology tape can help lengthen the opportunity while also helping to guide movement. Movement therapies have customarily focused on isolated muscles rather than motion for treatment outcomes. However, in reality, the body knows movement not muscles. Knowledge of isolated muscle is necessary and yet it doesn’t reflect integrated movement, as tradition dictates muscles are named for the isolated, shortening action rather than the lengthening action. For example, the quadricep can extend the knee and often does, yet in upright function, the quadricep (along with tissue above and below) controls knee flexion and simultaneous frontal and transverse motions. The body controls and reacts to gravity, ground reaction forces, mass and momentum, and injury often occurs at the hypermobile region(s) when it is unable to. (For more information on this topic, see my book, REAL Movement: Perspective on Integrated Motion & Motor Control.) Prior to my introduction to the concept of taping movement, not muscles, kinesiology taping didn’t fit into my thought process or treatment paradigm. I couldn’t rationalize why I’d tape an individual muscle, let alone distal-proximal or proximal-distal to facilitate or inhibit it. Nonetheless, after my introduction to this new framework of taping...
by rocktapeuk | Jun 19, 2018 | Uncategorised
Yoga is wildly popular all over the world and is a fast growing industry in the UK A 2012 Yoga Journal’s study showed that 20.4 million Americans practiced yoga, the study also found that 82% of yoga practitioners were female, 63% fell within the age range of 18-44, 45% of survey responders considered themselves to be beginners and 78% were looking for greater flexibility.[i] Like any sport or physical activity, however, people can get injured practicing yoga, too. While yoga is a decidedly safe activity for most practitioners, a 2009 study from the International Journal of Yoga Therapy conducted by the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons[ii] found that low back injuries were the most common, followed by shoulder, knee and neck injuries. Most of the riskier yoga poses also put a lot of stress on the hands and wrists. Of course, poor technique, previous injuries, excessive effort and improper or inadequate instruction and supervision were all cited as causes of injury, too. As with any activity, people like to jump to the cool-looking, advanced stuff too early, which is why it’s so important to have a good instructor who is really watching you and guiding you in a challenging, yet safe direction. Headstands and poses like sarvangasana and halasana can wreak havoc on your neck. Headstands put a lot of compression force into the discs in your neck. The other poses put a high demand on your ability to flex your neck while simultaneously putting a fair amount of your weight on your lower neck and upper thoracic spine. RockTape for the neck can help relieve some of...
by rocktapeuk | Jun 13, 2018 | Uncategorised
Floss bands are not a new concept. They have been around for a while now under various names. In Australia, they have been mostly used as part of a warm up routine for gym workouts, particularly in the CrossFit world. But they can also be a useful tool in the clinic treating patients as another addition to your soft tissue treatment arsenal. If you want more information on how to use these bands in a simple way, read on! What can they be used for? Floss bands can be used in a number of different ways but in this blog we are going to focus on two of the most common applications: • Oedema management • Targeted soft tissue treatment Floss bands should generally be applied from distal (furthest down the limb) to proximal (higher up the limb). Wrapping in this direction will have less pressure on the valves that exist in the veins as the pressure imparted by the floss band will move the blood towards the heart, avoiding back-pressure on the venous valves. Various tensions can be used when wrapping the floss band, depending on the way you are trying to use the band. The Floss band is generally overlapped by approximately half its width as it is wrapped up the limb. Floss bands are generally left in place for 2-5 minutes, depending on the tolerance of the person, and should always be removed if any undue discomfort is felt. Oedema management For those clinicians and patients that find compression helpful in the management of oedema, floss bands can be wrapped at up to 50% tension over...
by rocktapeuk | Jun 7, 2018 | Uncategorised
We have heard many questions pondered by physicians and healthcare professionals alike. When it comes to the foot there seems to be one that is always on everyone’s mind: To brace the foot, or to not brace the foot? The use of custom foot orthotics has been, and continues to be, a widely prescribed treatment for patients suffering from lower extremity pain as well as a preventative therapeutic intervention. In fact, there are some chiropractic programs who offer complimentary orthotics to all students to “try their product” – but is this a good idea? If I had a patient come to my office with low back pain, would my first intervention be to recommend a back brace? Would it be an intervention at all? I think the majority would say probably not. Why? Well, as chiropractic physicians, we would be assessing joint function, movement patterns, strength deficits determined to find the root of the problem rather than simply putting a band aid on the patients’ symptoms, i.e. low back brace. So why then, when our patients come in with foot pain, are we still overly prescribing foot orthotics? The foot and ankle contain 26 bones, 33 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. Now if we aren’t assessing function here, and allowing assessment to guide our intervention, we have a problem. Our bodies were simply not designed to walk on man-made surfaces, nor utilize footwear that suffocates our feet, a concept often referred to as American foot binding. As a result of flat smooth services, cushioned heels and motion control shoes, we have lost the integrity of...
by rocktapeuk | May 21, 2018 | Uncategorised
Keith Gladstone is an osteopath and sport scientist. He is consultant osteopath to the England Rugby team and his company Athletic Health Ltd supply the medical team at the Worlds strongest man competition each year. Here is a short blog of his experiences at this years competition: For many, Christmas and new years are synonymous with three things; Presents, Turkey and the worlds strongest man competition being aired on TV. Each year, 30 of the strongest men on the planet gather in an exotic location, in the ultimate battle of strength. Its the World Cup or the Olympic final of Strength Sport, and one man a year walks away with the title of “The Worlds Strongest Man”. The competition takes place over 2 weeks and is actually filmed in April/May and then aired at various times throughout the year across the world. The competition comprises multiple events which test not only strength and power but also stamina, skill, strategy and fitness. The 30 athletes are split into 5 heats of 6 people. Each heat compete over 6 events in 4 days and the top 2 athletes from each event then progress onto the final. The athletes don’t know what events they will be competing in until about 2 weeks before the competition so they are not able to prep too specifically. There are some events that are always present…the atlas stones, a vehicle pull, a carry and load event, but the specifics are only identified very close to the event. This means the athletes have to prepare for everything and can’t specialise in one particular lift or event. This...
