Edema What? KT Tape's Newest Clinical Product

At KT Tape, we work closely with our clinicians and Medical Advisory Board to create new products customized to the needs of our consumers- whether weekend warrior or medical professional.  KT Tape recently launched a new clinical product line including 5”, 10”, 18”, and Edema Precut Strips that will increase the speed and convenience of clinical taping techniques.   Cindy Bailey, one of our KT Tape clinicians and Director of Physical and Occupational Therapy at Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital, shares her experience with the product development process. I was introduced to the use of Kinesiology Therapeutic Tape (KT Tape) in February 2010. As one of the longest standing “Light Elastic Taping” instructors in the United States, I receive samples and test as many of the products in the “light elastic taping” category as I can in order to be well informed and pass on first-hand information to my students about each product’s pros and cons.  I teach what I find to be best for our patient care in both taping products and unique taping strategies.  When trying KT Tape on my patients and athletes it quickly became apparent that KT Tape would remain on my patients for longer periods of time, yet was more breathable than its competitors.  I began using KT Tape more often and  KT Tape became  my preferred  teaching  product  for myself and for my students  during lab sessions.  The KT Tape corporate team attended a course I taught in May 2010.  It was exciting for me to see that the parent company was truly interested in how I felt about the product and its incorporation into patient care and kinesiology taping strategies.  The KT Tape corporate team and I discussed the products they currently had, and how those products were utilized by the general public versus the medical professionals.  For medical professionals, every moment with their patient or athlete counts, so the more user-friendly that tape is to the clinician, the better.  We discussed that the largest time strain while taping in my practice is cutting tape into 5 strands for the edema reduction technique, which usually takes several minutes, if not longer, for each patient.  We discussed many options, and I suggested that a Precut Edema Strip would not only allow me, the clinician, more convenience and time savings, but it would allow those patients and athletes to learn the correct techniques for taping themselves, resulting in higher patient and athlete compliance.  We also discussed the potential for other Precut Strip sizes that clinicians could use more ably for muscle techniques and movement patterning.  Throughout the summer, not much was said about the possibility of the new products.  But lo and behold in October 2010 I opened the tape I received for use in a class and it not only had the Edema Precut 5 strands with a base just like I wanted, but it also had a roll of 18” Precut strips!  I was astounded that in less than six months, KT Tape had listened to clinicians, changed their manufacturing to accommodate the new ideas, produced, shipped and made ready for distribution and use these new, incredibly CLINICALLY FRIENDLY products.  From my first meeting with the KT Tape corporate team I have been impressed with their attention to the products usefulness in different capacities.  As a clinician it has been phenomenal to be able to get exactly what will be the most user friendly product for me and my patient load.  I can’t thank KT tape enough for assisting me with my patient and athletic care needs by producing these new products. THANK  YOU   !!!!!!!! Cindy Bailey DPT, OCS, SCS, ATC, EMT Director, Physical/Occupational Therapy Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital USC Ice Hockey, ATC To view the complete KT Tape Clinical Product Line, visit the KT Tape Store.