NEW “JAM” Kinesiology Tape (KT Tape Pro) was unveiled at the Olympic trials by the JAAA sports chiropractic team. Kinesiology tape has been used by athletes to relieve pain, improve circulation, and to help speed recovery post-training.

The performance taping techniques have been used in Europe and Asia for three decades, but has gained popularity in athletics since the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

According to Dr Ty Ashcroft, one of the two individuals who donated the items, the KT Tape Pro is applied along muscles, ligaments, and tendons (soft-tissue) to provide a light weight, strong external support that helps to prevent injury and speeds recovery. Depending on how it is applied, the tape can help facilitate muscle firing and recruitment, or decrease excessive tension due to its elastic nature.

KT Tape Pro augments tissue and improves function and mobility. The tape also has been shown to reduce inflammation by improving circulation and lymphatic drainage.

The official chiropractic team of the JAAA and ISSA chose to use the KT Tape Pro to supply the Olympic team for London 2012. In addition to a stronger adhesive, the new tape is composed of 100 per cent synthetic microfibres which provides stronger elastic recoil and better support when compared to the cotton versions. The new tape seems to last longer, especially in the hot Jamaican sun.

The team of healthcare providers that treated at this year’s Boys’ and Girls’ Champs saw an opportunity to give more to the schools and track clubs they treated, and donated over US$7,000 worth of tape so the young athletes would have the same support and treatment as their senior idols.

It is understood that the team has been very “helpful to Jamaica over the years, giving voluntary services at the annual Penn Relays and at our own Boys’ and Girls’ Champs”, one source told the Jamaica Observer.