There's KT Tape Under Those Hockey Pads

We've had a great couple of weeks in Vancouver, and it's been exciting to watch all kinds of world-class athletes. Recently, we had a chance to meet Carrie Smith, a medical host physiotherapist at the UBC ice hockey arena in Vancouver. Most of the time, Carrie works as a full-time physiotherapist and co-owner of two physiotherapy clinics in eastern Ontario. She found KT Tape last year, when a fellow therapist came across the KT Tape website. As the team therapist for several rugby teams, Carrie has found that her favorite KT Tape feature is the ease of application with the pre-cut strips, especially the perforations and rounded corners. She also said she loves that you don't need a two-day training course on how to apply KT Tape. "Once you start using the tape and interacting with the tape, it's easy to apply the principals to difference muscle groups," Carrie said. "It might seem like a small thing, but when you have to tape up several rugby players, it’s a big deal," Carrie said. At most games, up to 10 players on Carrie's teams are outfitted in KT Tape. Thankfully, they're not all injured, though they do require a lot of support. According to Carrie, the most common KT Tape applications for rugby players include hamstring strain, shoulder dynamics, patellar tendon and quad strain. Even Carrie's men’s rugby team loves KT Tape - practicing in pink, but switching to a tougher black on game day. During her time working with hockey teams, Carrie has found that the most common hockey injuries include shoulder and leg contusions from hitting the boards, lower back pain, strain in the lower lumbar and mechanical back pain. You probably saw Carrie's taping handiwork at the hockey games in Vancouver a few weeks ago. Way to go Carrie!