When you get injured, the ideal situation is to rest and begin a rehab process. Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible, especially when you are active in sports or work. One way to deal with certain types of Hip Flexor pain is to apply KT tape on your injured Hip Flexor.
How KT Tape Works
The feature that KT tape gives you that standard tapes do not is the ability to stretch and maintain it’s adhesive strength. In this way, the tape almost replicates the function of ligaments in the body that attach to your muscles.
Taping doesn’t always help, but for certain common injuries like pulled Hip Flexors, it can help keep the length of your main muscles, the Iliopsoas, in a safe range during activity. When your muscles extend during whatever motion you’re doing, the tape will apply resistance and slow you down so you limit any further damage you do. This is useful to reduce the amount of hip pain you get running, and can help in some cases of Hip Flexor soreness.
How to Apply KT Tape to a Hip Flexor Injury
The actual process is really simple, all you’ll need is two full strips of tape. Follow the procedure in this video:
Key Points:
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Apply the tape at 25% stretch. When you fully stretch it, that’s 100%, so half that stress and half it again before sticking it down.
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Apply in a warm area, or rub your skin first to warm it up before applying. This helps the adhesive stick.
Above all, remember that performing activity while you have an injury to your Hip Flexors is a last resort. Doing things like lifting weights will likely cause more Hip Flexor pain while squatting and will make the injury worse. While using KT tape is the safest way to do so, opt to sit out and rest whenever possible.
