SEE THE UPDATED kinesio taping for plantar fasciities!

 First, I bought the book, Kinesio Taping Perfect Manual and the 2-inch tape, 5cm x 5m

  - by me, a bona fide kinesio taping novice

It's the one for novices or the muscle stupid. While I'm not exactly muscle stupid, I'm hardly a pro. My muscle knowledge is haphazard and comes from working with sports med pros. I did not put this in the article section since that's the area for either carefully researched articles edited by pros or articles written by pros. And this is just my own very unscientific experiment.

Most photos show two colors, simply because it's easier to see. I only got one color. Don't tell Paris Hilton. She'll think I'm not fashion savvy.

I could not really find a demonstration in the book for arch pain so I used the fork-tape pattern used for flat feet.

Click here for the updated version of this kineseo taping method.

My feet are not flat but the pain is running along the arch and I know the kinesio tape has to follow the foot muscles on the bottom of the feet. I then followed the directions for applying it to the bottom of the foot and then layered an ankle piece. I am relatively certain it will not ruin my life. Since I have no heel pain and it is not sensitive to the touch, I don't think it's plantar fasciitis. I think I had a muscle spasm in my arch in my sleep and it strained the muscle.

It's only been two hours at this point. My 'forking' the tape was pretty hilarious. It's not hard but it's not a piece of cake either. Tennis elbow looks super easy to do although you might need help getting it stuck at the right place. But the pattern itself is not difficult. The pattern for frozen shoulder looks pretty advanced and while you can do it, you just have more patterns and layers.

I does say not to stretch the kinesio tape.

Like the stupid novice that I am, I stretched it on the first application and had to trash it. The idea is to put it on a bended knee if it's your knee you are taping and then it supposed to look wrinkled. The second time I bent and raised my toes and applied it to the arch that way. Much better.

The tape has a backing on it. So you can sort of do the cutting and then apply one little piece so it sticks and then lay down the rest by rubbing it with your hands. I have a bit of work to do around that toe. It did not get all balled up nor tangle badly.

So far.

It sort of has a bit of a tingle feel to it. Naturally, I had to try it on my knee which has been swollen under the knee cap. I basically did a patella taping. I'll photograph that one, too. I feel relief right away from that taping. Within minutes. And it sort of has a calm relieving feel. The arch is feeling less painful. But I did do my calf stretches and the stretch where you pull the toes back so I don't really know yet. I have no idea how fast this tape is supposed to work. I guess it just depends.

By the way, there is even a section in the book for how to apply kinesio tape for trigeminal neuralgia and jaw pain. That was a surprise.

So long for now. I'll report back later.