What is Physio Tape?

The popularity of Physio tapes

Physio Tape is a tex based non latex tape with adhesive on one side which is used in physiotherapy to treat many different ailments afflicting the muscles and joints of the body. Tapes such as Physio Tape and Kinesio Tape are popular all over the world owing to their widespread usage by sports persons and athletes. During strenuous sports activities, significant large stress is placed on various joints and muscles of the body. Professionals tape up those muscle and joint areas that sustain the maximum stress. For a runner it would be the ankle area, for a boxer it would be the wrist. The use of these tapes by successful Chinese athletes in the Beijing Olympics has propelled its popularity around the world. Many athletes can be seen at competitive events with Physio or Kinesio tapes.

Using Physio tape to help muscles

Physio Tape are applied by stretching them over the target area. The tape wraps tightly around the muscles and convolutes the skin. This narrows the blood vessels and thus, increases blood circulation in that area. More blood means more nutrients and energy getting circulated in that area. Other than affecting the blood circulation, the pressure exerted by the tape on the muscles numbs the sensory cells of the skin thus reducing any kind of sensation in that area. This allows the athlete to use the muscle for a longer duration as it numbs the feelings of pain and fatigue. These are the two main mechanisms of action of a physio tape when used during a strenuous  activity.

Other benefits of Physio tapes

Physio tapes can also be used before as well as after an activity. Physio tapes, using the same mechanism discussed above, promote healing and rejuvenation of fatigued and injured muscles when wrapped for longer durations. Muscles not only control the movements of the body but they also control the lymph and blood flow as well as influence the core temperature of the body. Thus, failure of muscles to perform properly can manifest itself in many different symptoms. Physio tape has been designed that it can be used to support muscles throughout the day and up to three days without removing the tape. Physio tapes have become popular in physiotherapy treatments for muscle and joint ailments such as tennis elbow, bad back, ankle strains, knee pain, etc.

Some common applications

The most common application of physio tapes is to treat tennis elbow and back aches. For tennis elbow, a Y shaped strip is fashioned out of a 2 foot strip of Physio tape. This can be done by cutting the tape through the middle up to half of the strip. The intact side is applied on the wrist and moved upwards with very little stretching. One of the arms of the Y tape is used to wrap the forearm all the way up to just below the elbow while stretching it to 20% of its capacity. Twenty percent capacity would correspond to medium stretching. The other end of the Y strip is wrapped over the forearm as well in the opposite direction with 40% stretching and finished just on the elbow. Another strip of about 1foot is used to seal the elbow end. If the taping process is done correctly, then there should be considerably less pain when moving the arm. Not only does it make living through the pain caused by tennis elbow much easier and facilitate a wider range of movements, but also over time can cure tennis elbow. For use with back aches, a strip of 1 foot tape is applied in a straight line all the way from just below the arm pit to the start of the hip at both sides of the body.  To provide further support, another strip of tape can be used to wrap around the waist tight enough to allow normal breathing and to suppress the pain from back strain.

Physiotherapy applications

In physiotherapy, ailments are cured by treating muscle structures and joints of the body. The use of Physic tape when coupled with medication serve as a potent cure for a lot of ailments that otherwise cannot be cured through medicine alone. Problems such as frozen shoulders and tennis elbow generally do not show up in x-rays and other medical tests. Hence, as there is no underlying cause that can be detected for these ailments, their treatment can never be guaranteed by medical professionals. This medical treatment gap can often be filled or reduced very inexpensively with physiotherapy and Physio tapes. It has become common to find Physio or other sports related tapes and wraps at nearly every sporting event. The performance of an athlete depends on how fast a sprain or spasm is cured. The intensity of their activity puts tremendous pressure on their muscles which require immediate relief. Physio tapes are used by sports physiotherapists exactly for this purpose.

Summary

All in all, Physio tapes today are an indispensable part of sports and activities. Physiotherapy has accepted this tape as a standard tool for treating many muscular and joint ailments. Physio tapes are available over the counter and on the Internet and can be purchased without a prescription. Vitality Medical has an assortment of Physio tapes and other sport tapes and compression wrappings you can select and purchase online. You do not have to be a professional athlete to benefit from Physio Tape. It is useful for prevention as well as healing purposes. It is used before, during and after sport events. The cost of Physio Tape is under $10.00 a roll, which makes them a great alternative to other such tapes such as Kinesio Tapes. Because of its affordability, many are attracted to this sport tape without having to budget.

Do Bed Wetting Alarms Work?

Bed wetting a common predicament

Every child wets the bed during sleep at night. This is a very common problem which parents face everywhere. It is all right if the child grows out of the problem soon. But, if the child is not motivated and trained to stop bedwetting early, then it may carry into the later years as well. Bedwetting by children after the age of five is called Nocturnal Enuresis. It often runs in families as a genetic problem. Parents of bedwetting children, often try numerous methods to stop this habit or at least reduce its frequency. If you have found that the traditional methods such as praising the child for a dry bed or reprimanding them for wetting during the night are not working; then there is another method you should try — Using Bed Wetting Alarms.

Bed wetting alarm, the mechanism

Bed Wetting Alarm devices wake children just as they start urinating by sounding an audible alarm. It consists of a bedwetting sensor linked either to the pajama of the child or to a bed pad used to keep the bed dry. On sensing the first drops of urine the sensor immediately sounds the alarm which disturbs the sleep of the child and reminds them to go to the bathroom. In the case of a deep sleeper, the alarm works equally well by waking other family members so that they can wake the child and take them to the bathroom to finish urinating. By these methods, a bed wetting alarm ultimately teaches the child to wake up as soon as his bladder is full, or to sleep through the night without urinating.

How to use a bed wetting device

 

To get the full benefits of a Bed Wetting Alarm, you will first have to understand the correct procedure of using it. At the beginning, it will be better if an adult slept in the same room as the child, so that when the alarm sounds, the child is not scared by it. Also, during this time, the child should be taught to respond to the alarm by going to the toilet immediately and urinating there. After which he should also learn how to reset the alarm by himself before going back to sleep. After a few weeks, you can move out of the child’s room when you feel confident that he has learned how to handle the alarm. From then onwards, you will find a slow but steady decrease in the frequency of bedwetting.

How effective is this device

In children above the age of seven, the chances of this device fulfilling its objective is high. This can be attributed to the co-operation of the child. When a child understands that bedwetting is not socially acceptable, he will usually be enthusiastic and willing to use this device. In most cases it should not take more than 5 to 6 months to fully realize the effectiveness of this device. When a consecutive stretch of 14 days of a dry bed is attained,  you can safely stop the use of the alarm. Sometimes there maybe a relapse in which case, a second course of this treatment should completely cure the child of this problem.

Uncooperative children

But, how effective is this device with children who are not willing to co-operate? Well, this device loses its sting with such children. Initially, it has to be forced on the child and then it has to be coupled with encouragement and reprimands later to make it an effective treatment method. Usually with such children, the duration for cure is much longer and requires more vigilance.

Increase the efficiency

Although your child may have learned how to respond to the alarm, sometimes the bed wetting alarm can fail to stop bedwetting. Taking proper precautions is necessary to avoid failures. Sometimes bedwetting children will simply turn the alarm off and go back to sleep. In such cases, you need to keep the alarm distanced from the bed so that they will have to get out of bed to turn it off. If your child sweats at night and a bed pad alarm sensor is being used, a double sheet may be necessary to avoid false alarms. Another option is to select a different type of Bedwetting Sensor. In a rare case when your child is the only family member sleeping soundly while the alarm rings and every one else is awakened, wake the child up and take them to the bathroom, after which, make sure that you have them reset the alarm themselves. By turning this into a routine, your child will soon get into the habit of responding to the alarm on their own.

A few more tips

In most cases when a child does not co-operate, it is because they are annoyed with the alarm, or feels insecure when they wake up at night. You can try calming your child every time they wake up and accompany them as they finishes urinating in the bathroom. Help them reset the alarm and never punish them for wetting the bed. Encourage and praise them every time they wake up and for every dry night that they achieve. As the child grows accustomed to the alarm and responds appropriately, you can increase the efficiency of the alarm by simply using a technique called ‘overlearning’. This technique involves giving your child more liquids intentionally a few hours before bed time, so that the bladder is full during the night. Initially, the child will likely restart wetting the bed, but once they can learn to respond to a full bladder by going to the bathroom, they will be totally cured of bed wetting. By utilizing the ‘overlearning’ technique, you make the night time visit to the bathroom a routine that the child becomes accustomed to on a nightly basis. As with any action, once it becomes a habit, it always stays with the child.

 

Bed Wetting Alarms and a variety of Bedwetting Sensors are available online at Vitality Medical. A large selection of bedwetting alarms that utilize audible alarms, vibration alarms, flashing light, recorded messages, recorded sounds or a combination of these alarms are always in stock ready to be shipped to your door. Vitality Medical carries specialized alarm systems such as the Wireless Bedwetting Alarm, the Toileting Bedwetting Alarm, the BedSide Alarm, the Recordable Bedwetting Alarm, the Wrist Watch Bedwetting Alarm and the Motion Sensor Alarm. Bedwetting alarm sensor options include the Easy-Clip Sensor, the Sit-up Sensor, the Bed Sensor Pad and the Standard Flat Sensor, all of which are on our Bedwetting Sensor page. Visit our online Bedwetting Alarm Store today to select the options that work best for your situation.