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colour and healing, colour in health care, Colour in medical setting, Dr Kenzo Kase, kinesiology tape
Very recently I suffered from terrible pain in my right shoulder. It turns out I have a calcium build-up around my rotator cuff and when this gets aggravated the inflammation is a source of profound pain. Apparently my years as a painter are catching up with me, it’s a common occurrence in people who spend a lot of time with their arm above their head.
In the course of getting treatment I went to see a registered massage therapist who specializes in sports injuries. I was into my third day of acute pain by the time I got to him. The first thing he did was to put three strips of what is called kinesiology tape on my shoulder. Within 24 hours the pain was manageable. After about 4 days some range of motion returned, and unless I did something stupid I was not actively in pain. My R.M.T. was thrilled with my progress and so was I.
For me however, the most interesting thing about all this was the effect that the colour of the tape had on me. It was not some horrible beige pretending to be a flesh tone (any artist will tell you that flesh is not beige), it was bright pink.
The first thing my husband said to me when he saw my pink taped shoulder was that I looked like Seven of Nine from Star Trek. Well, that’s pushing it a bit because she has some interesting thing going on with her hand not her shoulder. Somehow though it made me feel better. Later on he began to refer to me as the bionic woman. I was curious, would he have done so if the tape were beige? No, it was because of the colour. Despite feeling absolutely miserable I began to find some joy in this superwoman theme. As I developed more and more range of motion I would show this off by striking a karate chop pose and singing “Wonder Woman”!
I’m a person with a good sense of humour, and I think it’s pretty obvious to you by now that I’m not afraid to act silly. I have no doubt that a sense of humour is important to the healing process, and the pink tape really encouraged that. I wasn’t just someone suffering from the effects of time taking its toll on my body, the tape had transformed me into an action hero! Due to its colour the tape was fun and had way more sex appeal than beige tape would have had. Despite my inherent sense of humour I don’t think I would have had half the fun with beige tape. Beige tape would have just made me feel ill and sickly.
Naturally the tape itself was doing what it was designed to do and was helping me recover, but the colour was an added bonus that I believe sped up the process.
As with all things, you can find people online who absolutely pooh poo kinesiology tape. One man was angered by the fact it comes in a variety of colours. He asserts it’s just a big marketing scam and doubts that the tape does any good at all. As someone who has actually used the tape, I think he’s wrong.
Some may feel that beige would be better because it wouldn’t show as much under clothing. I didn’t care about that, in fact it seemed better that it could be seen. Despite the action hero association I was getting from it, it helped remind me as well as others of the reality of my injury.
Beige tape would not have inspired me to write this blog post. I can tell you categorically that I would not have posed for the above picture with beige tape on my arm.
Yes, I’m a person who loves colour. Colour is what I do with my life, but something dull and glum never made anybody feel better. Colour has vitality and life and it has played a part in my healing process. Medical institutions could learn a lesson from this. When colour is put before people in a way that is not crass or overwhelming they take great joy from it. Colour has the power to make people light up, to smile. Isn’t that one of the very best things for your health.
My N.D. and my R.M.T have provided me with excellent care, I’m fortunate to have them in my life. Dr. Kenzo Kase has created a tape that does an amazing job but is also cool and fun and helps people to heal in a way that perhaps even he has never imagined.
Kora Sevier is a Vancouver Colour Consultant. She specializes in interior and exterior colour consultations for both residential and commercial clients. For more information, visit www.kcolour.com
If you’d like to read more about Dr. Kase, visit http://www.kinesiotaping.com/about
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