You might have wondered: What exactly is that tape for?

The strips of tape you see on athletes’ bodies is actually what’s called Kinesio tape, or kinesio tex tape. This kind of tape—also just called KT tape—is made up of elastic fibers, and it can be applied to the skin to help support the lymphatic, neural, muscular and fascial systems.

More than 40 years ago, a doctor created the tape to help support the work he was doing with his patients. He created a kind of tape that had the ideal amount of adhesive so that it would stay on patients’ bodies while they moved or exercised. Fast-forward to today and it is used to support alignment, for rehabilitation, for pain, and also during competition.

While it’s difficult to know why each Olympic athlete is using the kinesio tape method, you can bet that they are trying to add a bit of support to their soft tissue that may be over-worked. In other cases, it is likely they are supporting muscles that have been strained or injured at some point in their training. You can imagine just how much these athletes train year-round, so they are willing to try a variety of methods that support improved mobility, better performance, and faster recovery.

Tape that Mimics Our Skin

In many ways, the tape you see athletes using actually mimics our skin, so after applying, people can use KT tape to further support their muscles or in some cases, limit muscle movement in those areas. When combined with treatments including chiropractic, physical therapy and stretching, kinesio tape can be used for preventative measures and to provide benefit to the circulatory system and our ligaments, tendons and joints…and not just for world-class athletes!

Cupping Therapy

Besides the tape you see on athletes, you’ve also probably noticed the large, circular bruises you see on them, especially common with the swimmers. This is a cupping technique—centuries old—which is used as a functional soft tissue therapy. One simple way of thinking about is that it’s the opposite of massage, which would be a compression therapy. With cupping therapy, the suction of the cups increases blood flow and helps to release tight myofascial tissue through decompression forces. The athletes we see on TV are likely using it to also relieve tension and for optimal recovery.

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin. More specifically, it’s a family of compounds including Vitamin D1, D2, and D3. Vitamin D plays a role in our cell growth, insulin production, hormone regulation, reduction of inflammation, and it plays a vital role in our ongoing immunity. Vitamin D impacts our mood, and it helps ensure the absorption of calcium and phosphorous in our body. Because of this, in the long-term, if you’re lacking vitamin D you can be at an increased risk for bone issues or abnormalities.

The list of benefits of vitamin D is actually quite long: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reports that when we get enough, it helps reduce the likelihood of developing the flu. The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that it can reduce your risk of multiple sclerosis. Some researchers have even linked a lack of the vitamin to issues including depression, heart disease, pregnancy problems, and more.

When we’re outside on a sunny day (with enough of our skin exposed) for as little as ten minutes, we’re able to experience the benefits of Vitamin D. With that said, many of us either can’t be outside long enough during those specific hours of the day, or we don’t want to experience the potential harmful effects of the sun.

So what do you do when it’s winter, or if your lifestyle is mostly out of the sun, or when you intentionally seek to avoid the sun?

While sunlight is the natural way to get vitamin D (as it is produced in skin as a response to sunlight), food and supplementation are the other two ways to obtain Vitamin D.

D…For Deficient?

In one recent study, about 75 percent of the people examined had inadequate levels of vitamin D in their blood. While that’s just one study, it does support the current argument that more people, in general today, are becoming vitamin D deficient.

Supplementation with Vitamin D3

As mentioned, vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) is involved in quite a few physiological processes in the body. Based on your individual lifestyle, age and other factors, Dr. Bradford can help you with specific nutrition and supplement recommendations so that you can obtain as much of the vitamin as needed.

One thing that the average person does not know is that not all Vitamin D supplements are created equal. Because Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin it can be difficult to absorb with a low quality supplement. At CRC, we offer high quality D3 supplements for our patients with very high absorption rates. This is frequently recommended and serves as a great way to get an additional source of Vitamin D. This supplement promotes all the benefits of Vitamin D, including support of healthy calcium absorption from the intestinal tract into the blood and a healthy immune system.

Learn More About Vitamin D & Your Overall Health

Looking to learn more about the benefits of Vitamin D—including how you can take steps to ensure that you’re getting enough? Talk to Dr. Bradford so that you can get a supplement that is easily and effectively metabolized in your body.

Read On: References/Sources

How to Train and Recover Like an Olympian: Kinesio Tape & Cupping

You might have wondered: What exactly is that tape for?

Tape that Mimics Our Skin

Cupping Therapy

Improve Your Health at Cincinnati Rehabilitation Center

What You Need to Know About Vitamin D