My new best friend is a tube of anti-itch cream!
As you both may imagine that does not make me happy. In fact let me go and re-apply right now.
[…]
So, how did I get here?
Right before the Austin Half Marathon my IT-bands started to shout out loud that they needed some more love, tender, and care. And because I am trying to be a good host to my body, I signed up for a treatment plan with a physical therapist. The first few visits were amazing. My IT-band and my hamstrings got all the love they wanted and they thanked me with a couple of awesome energetic runs.
But then my PT thought it would be a great idea to tape me up. Now this was the first time ever I used athletic tape/kinesio tape. My IT-band felt awesome and all. I left the tape on for a couple of days.
Then I took it off.
I am not even going to talk about how much it hurt to take it off… I used my whole arsenal of swear words in all languages available… But I am a tough girl!
The fun really started the day after when my skin showed some bad allergic reaction to the tape. When I complained to my PT, he said I was one of about 10% of people who have a reaction. I am that special! He said he used the best tape available on my legs. Then he took out a camera, took photos of my legs, so he could “use it for science and show his students”. Thank you, for making me part of science and education!
(I’ll spare you the photos…)
But now we know where the problem is…
My PT used the “best medical athletic tape available”. I asked him to next time use the less-medical tape.
See, you need to know that my body reacts badly to the apparent good stuff. Food poisoning? Yes – which high-end restaurant do I sign up at? Oh I know! I had a few severe cases of food poisoning in my life (all the way to having to let the Department of somesortofhealth know) and ALL of them came after eating at a high-end or reputable restaurant, but NEVER from a street vendor (not even in Thailand!).
So I am guessing the “dirty” tape may work after all. LOL!
Have you had reactions to athletic tape? If so, what did you do for the itching and did you end up using another tape?
