Kinesiology Tape for canine patients suffering from conscious proprioception deficits(CP deficits)

  What is Kinesiology Tape 
     Kinesiology tape is an elastic cotton/fabric tape with an acrylic glue that is water resistant. There are many companies that produce kinesiology tape so the name may differ from company to company. Kenzo Kase, a Japanese-American chiropractor, developed the first kinesiology tape in the 1970s. However, it did not start to becoming popular until the the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. It is now commonly used in human physical therapy and athletics for a variety of movement problems and injuries. Some benefits of K-tape in humans are enhanced body awareness, edema management, alignment and correction of weak muscles, facilitation of joint movement, can aid in pain control and help support healing soft tissues. K-tape comes in a variety of colors and you may have seen it placed on professional and non-professional athletes. At the Resurge physical rehabilitation department we personally prefer purple, green, and gold tape for our patients:)
Veterinary Case example:
    Colton is a rescue case who suffers from conscious proprioception deficits in his rear limbs due to an unknown neurologic disease. We have been using kinesiology tape to help him place his feet properly and not knuckle as much (see below video). This helps pattern more normal movement and also keeps him from dragging and damaging the top part of his paws. There are many conditions in patients that can benefit from K-tape such as IVDD (intervertebral disc disease), DM (degenerative myelopathy), FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism), Lumbosacral stenosis (LS disease), brachial plexus avulsions, and many others. K-tape is very safe as long as it is applied properly. Depending on the activity and functional limitations of the patient you can sometimes get 3-5 days out of one tape application. We find k-tape especially useful for between therapy visits to better pattern movement when at home. This can help reduce the overall time neurological patients spend in rehabilitation as well as overall cost.
When in neurologic recovery can kinesiology tape be beneficial for dogs suffering from conscious proprioception deficits?
    In my experience, patients need to have mild to moderate conscious motor/movement. Reflex movement doesn’t count. Motor needs to be conscious for k-tape to be beneficial. If your four legged friend has no pain sensation to the limbs in question, there will likely be no benefit. However, those patients may benefit from other assisting devices and/or other therapies. Patients don’t need to be able to walk on their own, but should be able to walk with some assistance. 
   If you think your dog could benefit from k-taping, please give our office a call and we can set you up for a physical rehabilitation consultation. 

*We do not recommend using kinesiology tape without the direct supervision of a veterinary professional with experience and training in this specific modality.  

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