Reporter
Shannan Lum

Varsity basketball player Senior Gina Domergue is one of the growing number of athletes whose game-day uniform goes beyond a singlet and shorts and includes a new piece of gear — kinesiology tape.

Student athletes run the risk of getting hurt in practice and dur- ing games, so many are willing to buy and apply redeveloped athletic tape to prevent damage and help heal current injuries.

“The tape makes it easier to move my bone more freely in the socket and relieves some pressure in that area,” Domergue, who underwent a Glenoid Labrum shoulder surgery as a sophomore, said.

Developed by Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kenzo Kase, this taping method gently lifts skin and the attached tissue covering the muscle, allowing blood and other body fluids to move freely around the targeted muscle, ac- cording to Kinesio Taping-Glob- al. Domergue applies the elastic, therapeutic adhesive tape during basketball season on her shoulder for better shot positioning.

Maya Fok, a registered and licensed occupational therapist, uses a special tape created by a Kase instead of the commercial brands such as KT Tape or SpiderTech.

“I used it after I had ACL/meniscus surgery done on my knee to help with swelling and heal- ing,” Fok said. She does not use kinesiology tape on her patients, although some of her co-workers do.

“They use it to help position- ing for physically disabled children as well as increase their range of motion,” Fok said.

Kinesiology tape has plenty of satisfied users like Cyclist Lance Armstrong, who praised the hot- pink tape in his book “Every Second Counts” according to Gary Mihoces of USA Today, but it also has its critics.

“I almost tore my ACL during soccer,”McKenna Eichler said. “I found out that my body shape makes my outer thighs weaker than the inner and created problems while running. I would apply tape on part of my shin and around my knees but I don’t think it works because it would always come off.”

Both Fok and Domergue agree that kinesiology is worth the cost of $12 to $25 a roll, but can last up to five days and is waterproof. The tape can be bought on the Internet or at local pharmacies and sports equipment stores.