Hi all dancers, have you ever danced with elastic taping? What do you feel?

In order to apply the elastic taping when you are dancing or performing, try to learn the concept of the proximal and distal part of tape application and they are always referred to origin and insertion of the muscle group. Applying the tape from proximal to distal, it helps to facilitate the muscle contraction; while the first and the last 5% of the tape anchors apply on the skin with no stretch; the middle 90% (therapeutic zone) is stretched by 15-35% and applied smoothly on the skin.

If the tape is stretched 15-25% at the therapeutic zone and applied from distal to proximal, it helps to inhibit the muscle contraction. Elastic taping can also be used to protect the joint by giving the maximal stretch in the therapeutic zone.

Research already showed that elastic taping on dancers would help postural control, ankle stability, restricting in inversion motion and balance performance.

Shall we use elastic taping in dance or performance? Of course, we need more research to provide evidence of elastic taping on dance performance and injury prevention or its physiological effect on the body. One is true that lots of dancers prefer to use the elastic taping after their injury to provide more support and secure their joint, at least in the psychological point of view!

各位舞者你們好，有否曾經在跳舞時使用肌內效彈性貼布?感覺又如何呢?

為了在跳舞或表演時應用肌內效彈性貼布，我們需要清楚近端起貼是指在肌肉起點開始；而遠端起貼是指在肌肉止點開始。一般來說，由近端貼向遠端可幫助肌肉收縮，而貼布的頭和尾的5%長度作為固定於皮膚上的用途，因此不需要拖加任何拉力;貼布中央的90%長度則為治療區域，可在皮膚上拖加15-35%的拉力。

如將貼布由遠端貼至近端，及在治療區域內拖加15-25%的拉力的話，可以達致減低肌肉收縮的效果。把肌內效彈性貼布拉至最大幅度時，亦可提供保護關節的作用。

有研究調查有關彈性貼布能提升舞者姿勢控制、足踝穩定性、限制了足踝內翻及提升平衡方面的表現。

到底我們在跳舞和表演時應否使用肌內效彈性貼布？現時我們需要更多研究來證明彈性貼布在跳舞表現、預防受傷以及對身體生理上的改變。但事實上很多舞者選擇在受傷後使用彈性貼布來為關節提供保護和支撐，至少在心理上也能幫到一點忙！