Kinesio Taping in Laguna Beach, CA

The tape stretches and recoils. Applied with a chosen amount of stretch, it tugs lightly on the skin in a direction the doctor wants you to feel. That tug can make a shoulder blade more noticeable during a reach, or a kneecap's tracking easier to sense during a step-down. The cue is sensory. You still have to do the movement.

Kinesio taping fails when it is asked to be a cast. A strip of elastic will not hold a joint the way a rigid brace does, and it should not be sold that way. Dr. Sani Kohen uses it when the person needs information from the skin while they practice a motion they are relearning. The tape is an adjunct to the drill, worn into real life.

Some applications unload an irritable tendon by lifting the skin slightly and spreading force. The effect is modest. It can make a painful arc more tolerable so you can practice the arc with better form. It does not replace the loading program that tendon actually needs. If the only change in the plan is tape, the plan is incomplete.

Rotator cuff injuries are a common place for a light assist during reaching drills. Knee pain around the patella may get a taping pattern that you can feel when the knee drifts inward. In both cases the tape comes after the movement test, and it comes off the plan when you can find the position without it.

Elastic tape is often worn for two to five days, through showers, until the edges lift or the skin complains. You should check under the strip daily. Itch, a burning edge, or a rash means it comes off, even if the roll was expensive. People with fragile skin, a history of tape allergy, or open wounds are screened before the first strip is cut.

Hair and oil change how it sticks. The skin is cleaned, and excess stretch at the anchors is avoided so the ends do not peel you. Dr. Tara Kohen would rather a shorter wear with calm skin than a week of tape over a growing irritation. Bring the roll's reaction back to the next visit. A different brand or no tape at all are both acceptable outcomes.

Tape will not knit a torn tendon, shrink a disc, or strengthen a muscle that never works. Those jobs belong to time, load, and sometimes a physician. The honest use is cueing and a small share of load while you practice. When the drill looks the same with the tape off, the tape has done what it can and can be retired.

Application is paired with corrective exercise therapy so the cue has a movement to serve. A shoulder that is taped and then ignored until the next appointment wastes the adhesive. You will be shown how to move while the tug is present, and how to tell if the tug is pulling you into the wrong shape. Wrong stretch on the tape is removed and redone.

The skin is dried, the strip is measured on you, and the anchors are laid with less stretch than the middle. You will move the joint while the tape is on so the cue can be checked. Visits often run 30 to 60 minutes depending on the plan. Taping itself is a short block at the end of testing and hands-on work, not the entire hour.

Expect to wear it into normal days and to peel it off if the skin objects. It gets wet and dries. A free 20-minute consultation can cover whether tape is even useful for your goal before a longer visit. The office is out of network, accepts HSA and FSA cards, and provides a superbill if you submit out-of-network claims.

Hands-on care might include joint work, soft tissue, and a few exercises chosen from the exam. Joint mobilization is often a better fit than a forceful adjustment when a joint is irritable, which is common after a flare from stairs. Corrective exercise is the part you repeat on your own so the hill outside your house stops being a surprise.

Payment is out of network, with superbills and HSA/FSA cards accepted. We will not quote your reimbursement. That is between you and the plan. Drs. Sani and Tara Kohen share the practice. Read their training on the about page and look at the rooms on the office page if you want to know the building before you drive the canyon.

Laguna Beach is a walking town built on grades. Stairs at the beaches, the climb through the village, Top of the World, and the canyon roads ask for knees and hips in a way the flat coastal cities do not. Artists, shop owners, and people who work from a house on a ridge often stack that climbing with long sitting. We want the specific hill, not a generic activity level. A knee that hurts on the way down Thalia is a different test from a knee that hurts after a desk day in Irvine.

The same ridges affect recovery. If we give you a walking program, the walk available outside your door may be steeper than the walk we had in mind. Say so. Tourist season also changes driving and standing: people who work the village in summer spend more hours on their feet. That belongs in the history next to any plantar fascia or low back complaint.

From downtown Laguna, Laguna Canyon Road (133) meets the 73, and from there La Alameda is a short inland leg. From south Laguna, Crown Valley Parkway is often simpler. Either way the trip is about 12 miles. It can be 20 minutes when the canyon is clear and closer to 35 when beach traffic fills Coast Highway and the canyon. The office is 26400 La Alameda, Suite 100, Mission Viejo, CA 92691, Monday through Thursday, 9 to 6.

Do not plan to park downtown and rideshare the rest unless you enjoy it. Drive to the suite and use the building lot. If a visit has to sit around a gallery schedule or a school pickup in the village, book it that way rather than rushing the exam. The phone is (949) 312-1754. A complimentary 20-minute consultation is available before a full workup.