What is the Black Patch on Keri Walsh's Shoulder?

In the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Keri Walsh showed up to the first and each subsequent Beach Volley Ball competition that was being broadcast around the world, wearing a unique looking black tape design on her previously injured shoulder, which was likely contributed to by repetitive stress injury. Many people had never seen this before and mistook it for a Zen tattoo or the like for good karma during the Games.

Instead, this proven medical technique offers a reliable alternative to pain pills, anti-inflamatory medication and steroid injections and allows the person being treated to avoid the complications. It is known as Kinesio Stretching Therapeutic Tape and is applied by a Muscular Skeletal Specialist or Sports Medicine Trainer skilled in the art of Kinesiology Taping. This taping procedure has been documented to reduce swelling of injurred inflamed tissue, enhance circulation and stretch out the injured soft tissue and keep it more flexible and less prone for reinjury. One commentator quoted Keri's trainer saying "Simply put, the stretch tape was like taking an Advil without the side effects, impact on reflexes or gastrointestinal complications."

You can imagine the repetitive stress action Ms. Walsh must have received in her shoulder from all the pounding of a volleyball through daily practice sessions for hours each day and the intense competitition with forceful spikes and blocks at the net. This specialty stretch tapping technique or "black patch" allowed Keri to compete at the top of her sport in Beach Volleyball in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games despite the repetitive strain injury, without the complications of medication or the limits in mobility, discomfort and muscle attrophy common with rigid braces. She was able to consistenly stretch the soft tissue in her shoulder, eliminate swelling and reduce pain in her shoulder due to repetitive strain while competing for Olympic Gold with this simple taping procedure.

The key for Keri Walsh was finding a technique that works focusing on the area of the body where she needed help without having to take medication that would effect her whole body, dulling her reflexes and resulting in other complications that could inhibit her competitiveness. As one of the top athletes in the world, Keri Walsh's choice was a reliable muscular skeletal taping procedure which she had tested in practice and chose to wear to one of the biggest competitions of her life. As her play demonstrated, with the tape in place, she was able to compete at the top of her field despite the injury.

In fact, recognizing Ms.Walsh's new found competitive advantage in effectively dealing with the routine strain on her muscles, cartilage, and ligaments, many of the other olympic volleyball teams began using the elastomeric stretch taping on their various injuries due to repeatedly straining their muscles and joints in the competitive effort. In one semi-final match, all four players were wearing elastic muscular skeletal stretch tape to manage the repetitive stress injuries which they were dealing with during the competition.

On August 21, 2008 Keri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor together won their second consecutive Olympic Gold Medal in Beach Volleyball. Keri had the familiar black therapeutic patch taped skillfully in place on her injured shoulder all during a tight and rainy finals match in the Chaoyang Park arena with over 12,000 dedicated fans huddling under their colorful umbrellas and ponchos and the rest of the world watching intently via television.

These cool wet conditions added additional strain due to repetitive stress on the flexibility of muscle, cartilage cushioning joints and ligaments for many of the olympians during these last days of the Beijing Games with devasting results for some of the track and field athletes, but not for Walsh and May-Treanor. This amazing atheletic duo beat a strong Chinese team in the finals despite home court advantage, challenging weather and loud vocal support for their competition by a local patriotic fan base. Walsh and May did not lose a set in the Beijing venue or in the 2004 Games in Athens. Congratulations go to All the Olympic Athletes who competed from around the world in 2008, the Chinese for hosting the games and particularly to this remarkable team effort by Walsh and May. It was inspiring to watch!

Carpal Solution Therapy utilizes the same medical principles as those employed with Keri Walsh's Stretch Tape Therapy. The difference is becasue of the unique design and specialized nature of the Carpal Solution you can self apply it in the convenience of your own home without the help of a specially trained practitioner or hand therapists. It is a Carpal Tunnel Home Remedy that works and a home remedy is the best way to treat repetitive stress injuries like CTS, that often flare up at inconvenient times when life is most stressful. Why, even after invasive Carpal Tunnel Surgical Procedures the symptoms of repetitive stress induced Carpal Tunnel condition often come back when you stay active with your hands and wrists. The frequent reoccurence of symptoms is why surgery is not the best option for conditions that result from cummulative effect of routine activities repeated over and over again in the same manner.

This daily wear and tear on the cartilage the cushions joints between bones can result in just as severe of an injury as a high impact accident. Each hand and wrist have over 27 bones that are held tightly together with cartilage, fascia tissue, tendons and ligaments. The soft tissue of the hand. It is not hard to understand why repetitive stress activities can have such a powerful impact on soft tissue from the daily grind of routine work like typing on a computer keyboard or operating a computer mouse or using a set of hairstylist clippers or playing a musical instrument.

You too can be at your best, like Keri Walsh, without high risk invasive procedures, extensive downtime, or the complications of pain medication or steroid therapy or the discomfort and immobility of rigid wrist splints. The Carpal Solution is a proven alternative treatment for repetitive strain in the hand, fingers and wrist. It works to eliminate your worst repetitive strain symptoms in weeks and put your syndrome in compete remission over the Six Week Protocol.

 

 

Other common repetitive stress disorders include, Trigger Finger in the index finger or other digits and Dequervain's Syndrome in the Thumb, in addition to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. With the advent of the information age, computer use with keyboards and mouse have led to more repetitive strain conditions than ever before.

Muscular Skeletal Physiologists and Clinicians have been using carpal tunnel massage therapy and specialty elastic tapping for decades to enhance the body’s natural healing process, relieve pain, swelling, inflamation and numbness caused by repetitive stress injuries to successfully avoid invasive surgical procedures. Surgery is not a good option for repetitive motion induced conditions, because continued activity will lead to the need for repeat surgical procedures as it does in the case of CTS condition.

There are many contributing factors or causes to this disconerting condition, but repetitive motion in your hand use pattern tends to be a consistent factor across the board for people suffering with CTS.

People often ask, "Why should I have surgery to solve a problem with inflamation in my joint?" This is a good question. There are so many well developed and effective alternative therapies that can solve the problem of inflamation without resorting to, for instance, Carpal Tunnel Surgery. These techniques improve blood circulation and lymphatic fluid exchange which results in more rapid regeneration of damaged tissue at the cellular level and dispersion of fluids contributing to swollen fascia tissue. These Carpal Tunnel Treatments have been proven to relieve pressure on the Median Nerve and eliminate the pain and symptoms of CTS.

Most people cannot afford the time and money to consistently visit a Muscular Skeletal Specialist for a nightly massage or specialty tapping over a six week period needed to achieve the best results for chronic syndromes like CTS. Even though routine stretching exercises done consistently for fifteen minutes five or six times per day will also help to minimize the effects of inflamation, most people get busy and do not remember or cannot afford the downtime to do the stretching required to get relief.

The Carpal Solution was designed by a Muscular Skeletal Specialist to empower CTS sufferers to access the much needed nightly stretching therapy, cost effectively and on a consistent basis in the comfort and privacy of one’s own home. It would be difficult to duplicate the effect of gentle stretching for eight hours each night in any other way. As such, The Carpal Solution is a relatively simple, but remarkable, medical breakthrough.