Another Cool Experience with Kinesio Tape

For those of you just tuning in, I am a pretty big fan of Kinesio Tape. It doesn't replace what we do in the clinic, but is a good adjunct to what we know is already effective. I have used it off and on with Jack and Ruthie and had pretty good results.

Well yesterday I was sitting through an imaging class taught by Dr. Joseph Chorley who is a Sports Medicine doctor for Texas Children's. He was emphasizing something all PTs know but sometimes forget and that is the inter-relationship between what happens at the elbow to what is going on at the shoulder and scapula.

So I took that very good reminder and went home and taped Ruthie's shoulder blades into a better position. I expected her to look better and hoped it would make her somewhat more functional. I was overjoyed when I broke out the M&Ms and fruit chews and started our routine of self feeding and watched her bring her hands to her mouth with less difficulty than before. Usually she leans her body back to get the assistance of gravity and then brings her arm to her hand to her mouth with her arm shaking with fatigue. Yesterday she did very little bending back and had no shaking. This really encourages me that we may be able to avoid elbow surgery and gives me more direction for her therapy.

For those of you with kids with Arthrogryposis, feel free to share this with your PTs and OTs. They are also welcome to contact me with any questions.

SIDENOTE: One of our favorite activities at Pine Cove is horseback riding. Here are some pics from those adventures.