OK, I owe you an updated photo of the absolute correct way to tape for plantar fasciitis. I must admit that taking a photo by myself is a challenge and I can't seem to remember once everyone comes home.But the tape needs to go over the back of the heel and a little ways up to the Achilles. You can even go up the calf as well if you have a super serious case of plantar fasciitis. 

But this post is about all the different colors of kinesio or k-tape. It's a style thing.

I like the blue kinesio. It's fashion folks. That's what the colors are for. Get Kineseo Tape

And in the photos where you see it demonstrated, they use the different colors so you can see the overlapping contrast. You'll see in my photo that it's hard to see with the tape colors blending together. You can hardly tell it's overlapping.

So this time I ordered tan and blue. Still not a lot of contrast but I'm still wearing sandals some days and I don't want blue tape snaking up my calves. The tan color blends with my skin.

So that's what all the colors are for. Fashion. And so you can see how to overlap the tape correctly. The colors show you a distinct pattern so you do it right. 

Well, I have been doing yoga and the tape and my arch and heel pain from plantar fasciitis is gone. Pretty fast, too. I hear people suffer for months. I've kept the same kinesio tape on the bottom of my foot for almost a week. It's time to change it but the new tape I ordered has not arrived. It should come tomorrow. But my foot feels great.

For me, the key was the tape and the yoga.

And making sure I stretched some before but mostly AFTER I ran. My run was wimpy and very gentle but I was going out of my mind. I stretch and do the downward dog first thing in the morning. And one of the others of which I don't know the name of since I'm not a yoga pro. But it works. By the way, the yoga is an incredible stress reliever. I used some of the mind altering techniques the instructor mentioned and it worked. One of them is to leave a problem outside the door. I had a presentation and I remembered to do that and it worked. 

Well, one thing is for sure, it's not going to get better if I run on it. No amount of kinesio tape, stretching or anything else will work well if I don't quit pounding it. And so I'm sitting on the bike, which I don't love to do every day. But that's my only choice right now if I don't want to spend a lifetime gritting my teeth and wearing only practical shoes. So sexy shoes are on hold for now.

Get Kineseo Tape

The tape is selling out everywhere and I've run out. I had just enough to retape today. I got a message saying it's backordered and did find some in stock. I'll have to wait another 4 days. Ugh. I'm kinesio addicted now. It needs to get here!

The third time is the charm because I think I really got it this kinesio taping right today.

It felt better within the hour. I also used the ASO brace to keep my foot at a 90 degree angle while I slept last night. Things others who have suffered with plantar fasciitis have said:

• Use a night splint or boot. Well, I didn't have this so I used the ASO brace I had and it did a pretty dandy job. No pain in the morning. I'll try a splint when it arrive and let you know the results. Or you can try it and let me know.
• Take yoga. It's all the stretching and muscle warmth, apparently. 
• Wear Danskos. That's my tip. They absolutely rock and provide mucho arch support. Others have mentioned birkenstocks, too. The Danskos work best for me, though. 

I have not done the yoga part yet. I'll try that Friday. I've never been into yoga but since I can't run and I will go out of my mind to the point my family is likely to shoot me, I will give it a go. I'll have to use one of the mats at the gym since I don't have my own.

This will probably make me a yoga outcast but my awkward moves will be revealed once I attend the class anyway trying to bend my tall, gangly self into all kinds of contortions. I do bend like a pretzel but there are some moves that are just plain awkward for someone who doesn't know the drill. Not that I care. I won't go to jail for looking ridiculous. If that was the case, I'd be on death row.

OK. I had to redo the taping from above photo. I needed to bring the tape further covering the heel. And I had to re-tape a couple of times as my first and second passes were too tight and uncomfortable.

Kinesio Tape I strip

I cut a fan strip and placed it on my heel.

Then I layered the one across my foot. And it is working. I did not think I had plantar fasciitis because I do not yet have heel pain. But apparently you have arch pain first.

I've been doing the stretches through my calf and the back of my leg as well as the one where you sit down and use a towel and pull your toes toward your head. Since this foot disorder can last for 9 months or more, I thought it best to get right on it. It feels a lot better today. But you have to do your physical therapy, too. 

Y-strip, X-strip and Fan Strip

All of the strip types are below that I know of. I-strip is just a length of the tape not cut in any special way and it's the starting place for cutting the tape. I do need to go up the back of my calves as well to do this properly.

I'll post a photo when I get it right. The tape has a backing that you peel off but before you peel it off, there are lines on the backing so you cut a straight line. You don't want to remove all the backing at once. That is the fastest route to "ball o kinesio". Hey, I coined a phrase. You head it here first. 

	Kinesio tape Y Strip	Kinesio X Strip	Fan Strip or Fork Strip