NADYA JOHNSON 

JADE CLAWSON 
TREY BRYNER 
KAILEE CONANT 
What is Kinesio Tape? 
Kinesio Tape is a hypoallergenic rehabilitative tape placed on the skin of the
human body to aide in the body’s healing process, while providing enough
support and stability to muscles and joints without restricting the body's range
of motion. Kinesio Tape also provides soft tissue manipulation (manipulation
of ​tendons, ligaments, fascia, skin, fibrous tissue, etc.) to prolong the benefits
of manual physical therapy. [1]
As physical therapists, we have used Kinesio Tape on ourselves as well as
our patients in our clinics. We have seen many amazing results that have
come from taping not only athletes but patients who need extra support.

Our audience includes physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in

Utah that will use Kinesio Tape on their patients to help aid in the rehabilitation
process. ​We hope to have each clinic we visit purchase Kinesio Tape from us so that we can
continue to help future clinics and patients by selling Kinesio Tape. We would love to be
involved with aiding the development of a strong and healthy community.
The following proposal will fully explain all of the reasons Kinesio Tape is beneficial to physical
therapy patients, and why it should be widely used in all physical therapy clinics.

Our Qualifications 
The four of us each hold a doctorate degree in physical therapy (DPT).

● Trey Bryner is a physical therapist and an athletic trainer at the University of Utah ​who
specializes in preventing, recognizing, managing, and rehabilitating injuries that result
from physical activity. He works with all athletes at the University of Utah in need of
physical therapy.

● Nadya Johnson is a physical therapist that specializes in pediatric physical therapy. She
works at Primary Children's Hospital with children under the age of 16, correcting
physical developmental problems such as muscle, joint, and congenital growth
deformities.

● Jade Clawson is a physical therapist who specializes in Geriatric physical therapy. She
works with patients over 50 years old helping to reduce pain and increase functional
movement.

● Kailee Conant is a physical therapist that provides physical therapy for

children who have mental disabilities such as autism, down syndrome,
etc. The majority of her patients require aquatic therapy which is done
in warm water to increase muscle and ​joint strength. T​he natural
buoyancy reduces gravitational pull and lessens compressive forces
on joints, which makes exercises much easier to perform than on
land.

 
Why do you need Kinesio Tape?
As physical therapists, we have noticed throughout the years that we
have had many of our patients return to us either with new injuries or
re-injuries. The four of us got together and conducted a study over a
period of 5 years to test if Kinesio Tape was truly beneficial to our
patients. Over this time period, we used Kinesio Tape on half of our
patients, and neglected to use it on the other half. This study showed
that the majority of patients that returned to our clinics with an injury had
never tried Kinesio Tape. We believe Kinesio Tape gave our patients’
joints and muscles enough stability to make regaining strength easier
and re-injury less likely.

Where did Kinesio Tape come from?

Kinesio Tape was invented by a Japanese doctor, Dr. Kenzo Kase, in the early 1970s. Dr.
Kase’s inspiration began when he was treating elderly patients for arthritis.
Dr. Kase had the ability to get his patients’ joints into certain positions to
help alleviate pain but as soon as they went home, their pain returned. Dr.
Kase wanted his treatments to last for a longer period of time, so he began
using a stiff, rigid, medical tape to hold his patients’ joints in a more proper
position which later developed into a flexible yet strong, Kinesio Tape. [1]

Kinesio Tape was the very first tape designed to aid in human physical
rehabilitation. [1] Throughout the years, other brands and types of Kinesio
​

Tape were developed such as:

● KT Tape
● RockTape
● PerformTex
● Kindmax
● SpiderTech
● Ares Tape
● Nasara Tape
● StrengthTape [2]

Benefits 
Kinesio Tape can be applied in hundreds of different ways and has the ability
to re-educate the body’s neuromuscular (nerves and muscles) system. It has
the ability to reduce inflammation, prevent re-injury, and promote good
circulation and healing, as well as assist in returning the body to homeostasis
(the body’s relatively stable equilibrium).[3] Kinesio Tape is able to aid in the
body’s natural healing process by lifting the skin’s surface from the

 
underlying fascia just enough to allow for additional blood flow. Blood carries all the nutrients
our bodies need to properly heal themselves. [4]

Kinesio tape is most often used for:

● Arthritis
● Pregnancy support
● Joint pain
● Growth abnormalities in kids
● Sprains/Strains
● Bruising
● Swelling

Kinesio Tape is not meant to act as a brace or splint. Braces are thicker
and offer more joint stability when the patient needs to limit joint
movement, while Kinesio Tape is meant to aide in proper joint and
muscle movement.

Method, Theory, Procedure

Kinesio Tape is made of specialized elastic cores, reinforced 100% cotton sheathes [5], and
hypoallergenic acrylic adhesive [6], that have been weaved together in a matrix.

The matrix is a mesh weave that has been designed to provide the tape with exactly “140%
bilinear elasticity” along the length of the tape but preventing any elasticity within the width of
the tape. It is crucial that Kinesio Tape has 140% elasticity in its design because human skin
also has a 140% elasticity. By corresponding the elasticity in the
skin with the elasticity in the tape, Kinesio Tape is able to flex and
move with the body’s skin and underlying tissue comfortably. [5]

Acrylic adhesive is applied to the posterior (back) side of the

Kinesio Tape in a wave or tread pattern with a piece of wax paper
attached to it that must be removed to expose the adhesive to the
skin. The ridges of the adhesive that adhere to the skin have
small troughs and between those troughs are long divots that run the length of the tape along
the waves. These divots are able to extract some of the moisture that the body produces
allowing the Kinesio Tape to be essentially waterproof. As the human body moves, the ridges
attached to the skin pull on the skin’s surface allowing it to last on the skin for 3-4 days at a
time. [6]

Goals
As professionals, we are sure that you and your staff want the absolute
best for your patients. Although Kinesio Tape does not prevent injury, it
will provide enough support around the muscles and joints to hopefully
give your patients the confidence to allow them to continue to do the
 
activities they love. We hope to have you purchase Kinesio Tape from us because we have
seen and experienced all the positive results that have come from Kinesio Taping.

Our ultimate goal is to help create a healthy society where people can move and experience life
as they wish without having to worry about a debilitating injury. We believe using Kinesio Tape
on the majority of patients will help accomplish that goal.

Costs
Kinesio Tape can come in various sizes and lengths. Some rolls come as entirely one piece, so
the tape can be cut to the desired length. Other rolls come with perforations throughout the roll,
dividing the tape into about 20 individual pieces that are approximately 10 inches long. Some
Kinesio Tape can be made to be 1, 2, 3, or 4 inches wide; however,
the standard piece of Kinesio Tape is 2 inches wide and 10 inches
long with rounded edges to prevent the tape from easily lifting from
the patient’s skin. [5] The tape can be further manipulated by being
cut into many different shapes and sizes to meet the needs of the
patients’ injuries.

If Kinesio Tape is placed incorrectly, it could cause the patient or

athlete to become further injured or in more pain. If you place an
anchor or any piece of the Kinesio Tape incorrectly you should
remove the piece entirely and start over with a new piece of Kinesio
Tape. Do not try to reposition and re-stick the same piece of tape. Our tape is sold at a
reasonable price, so you can be sure to have plenty.

We sell small single rolls with 20 precut strips (2”x10”), large single rolls with 150 precut strips
(2”x10”), and edema strips with 50 precut strips (2”x8”).
Single Roll 2”x10” 20 precut strips Theirs: $15
Ours: $12

Single Roll 2”x10” 150 precut strips Theirs: $55

Ours: $50

Edema Strips 2”x8” 50 precut strips Theirs: $50

Ours: $40

Schedule
While we do not have a set schedule, we plan on meeting with the following physical therapy
facilities at their earliest convenience to discuss the benefits of Kinesio Tape:
● Acute Care Facilities
● Care Centers, Nursing Homes, and Skilled Nursing Facilities
● Inpatient Clinics
● Outpatient Clinics
● Hospitals

 
 ● Research Centers
● Schools and Universities
● Home Health
● etc. [7]

We will be contacting these clinics ahead of time in order to schedule a time in which we may
come in to present our Kinesio Tape Proposal at their convenience.

 
Project Success 
As physical therapists, we wish the best for our patients. In physical
therapy clinics where Kinesio Tape is used, patients reach
rehabilitation more quickly and efficiently. Kinesio Tape has been
shown to have significant benefits to patients of all types; from
athletes to the elderly. We hope to introduce Kinesio Tape to more
physical therapy clinics and have Kinesio Tape be more
ubiquitously used in order to ensure better physical rehabilitation
for patients. We sell this at a reasonable price for both the clinics
and the patients because our goal is to help as many people as
possible. Our findings are sound, and we hope that you will allow
us to assist you in the rehabilitation of all patients undergoing
physical therapy.

 
Endnotes 
[1] Kinesio University. “KINESIO's President & Founder.” Kinesio Tape, Kinesio Holding
Corporation, 2016,​ www.kinesiotaping.com/about/our-president-and-founder/​.

[2] Expert Tape. “What is Kinesiology Tape | K Tape | TheraTape.” TheraTape Education
Center, 2018,​ www.theratape.com/education-center/kinesio-tape-information/​.

[​3] Brockton Physical Therapy staff. “Kinesio Taping.” Brockton Physical Therapy, 2018,
www.brocktonpt.com/kinesio-taping/​.

[4] “Athletic Tape Info Center.” ​Athletic Tape Info Center RSS​,
www.athletictapeinfo.com/category/how-kinesiology-tape-works/​.

[5] Health, LLC KT. “The Magic Behind KT Tape.” KT Tape Kinesiology Tape, KT Health, LLC,
22 Apr. 2017,​ www.kttape.com/kinesiology-blog/post/the-magic-behind-kt-tape/​.

 
[6] Tape Expert. “Kinesiology Taping Benefits.” Athletic Tape Info for Rehabilitation and Sports
Performance, Athletic Tape Info Center RSS, 2009,
www.athletictapeinfo.com/tag/kinesio-tape-skin-irritation/​.

[7] PT Settings. PTCAS,

www.portal.ptcas.org/ptcasHelpPages/instructions/additional-information/pt-settings/index.html​.