Taping

Lets begin with the standard taping technique taught in school, the low-dye taping technique seen in Fig 1. First (step 1) is to take a 1 inch tape and tear it vertically in half making sure to cover the 1st and 5th metatarsal heads of the foot, dorsiflex the greater toe to activate the Windless Mechanism. You can use stick spray if you are having trouble for the tape to hold onto the skin. Next, use 1.5-2 inch tape (step 2) and tear vertically to cover the plantar (bottom) aspect of the foot, you will use this to support the arch of the foot. Really try to pull and recreate the arch when you pull medially. Optional you can add a dorsal two ended side of the tape so that your bottom tape doesn’t shift when walking (step 3). Finally, add a second layer of 1 inch tape (step 4) over the tape seen in step 1.

Turf toe is a common injury seen in athletes, especially in football players because of how their toe is placed on the artificial grass. To prevent long term 1st joint capsule injury, a turf toe taping technique has been made to prevent dorsiflexion (toe moving up) of the big toe. First, anchor the big toe using 1 inch tape, as seen in Fig 2. Second, use another longer 1 inch tape and place vertically, connecting the big toe to the bottom mid foot, making sure you are pulling the toe down, as seen on the arrow. Finally, using 1.5-2 inch tape, secure the longitudinal tape across the mid foot.

The spica taping technique is a simple yet successful method of preventing joint pain. As seen in Fig 3, the tape orientation resembles that of a ribbon with the two ends placed on the bottom of the foot. This can also be sued on the big toe for turf toe pain.

Runner’s are a special breed of human being that test their feet to the limits running crazy amounts of miles. At the end of every race you will see a couple dozen with blisters on their foot at the end of the finish line. To prevent this you can tape all the bony, or high-friction areas of the foot that may be agitated against the shoe when running. As seen in Fig 4, these areas include the toes, bottom of the midfoot, and Achilles tendon.