I have friends who show up to every race looking like an intricately designed tapestry of KT Tape across various parts of their body. I’ve always wondered if it makes that much of a difference to apply it for every run/race and if they do all that themselves. Have you seen some of these patterns? And do they get funky tan lines from it?

(KT Tape is a brand name of a kinesiology tape used to help support and provide pain relief for muscle, ligament, tendon pain. They have two varieties at this time: KT Tape made out of a cotton fiber that is meant to stick for up to 3 days and the KT Tape Pro which is a synthetic fiber, lasts up to 7 days and is waterproof.)

I’ve tried the regular KT Tape in the past on spots that felt a little twinge-y (technical term there) and I’ve not had any luck with the stuff. No matter how much I try to make sure my skin is perfectly clean and my hands don’t touch the tape, the stuff just peels off within a short time, sometimes nearly immediately. Maybe my skin actively repels the stuff? 😉

But a little while back I was sent some KT Tape Pro to try. When I had my knee pain that prevented me from running a couple of weekends ago, not only did I rest and apply cold compression, but I taped it with the KT Tape Pro.

Nobody is giving me any awards for “beautiful taping” any time soon, but this stuff actually stuck! And when I took a shower with it the only parts that came unstuck were the areas where KT Tape was stuck to KT Tape. The direct contact with my skin stayed firmly adhered.

Right now I don’t feel the need to tape up anything every single time I run and I have no desire to do so. I would like to do what I can to strengthen my joints and supporting muscles so they don’t need extra supports. But when there is a little twinge-y, KT Tape Pro could actually help.

And for those of you who use it regularly and actually get KT Tape stick to your skin… fess up… do you use an adhesive?