Using KT Tape For Pregnant Belly | UPDATED 2023 | A Complete Guide

The sheer range of physical and emotional sensations can be hard to understand when it comes to being pregnant. Pregnancy brings about many challenges and issues in our lives that we do not expect to deal with. Solutions exist for most pregnancy symptoms and problems. For example, is utilising KT tape for pregnant belly issues worthwhile? Can this really help to reduce pain and discomfort?

This has been a recommended treatment for various issues that exist during pregnancy. Physical discomfort, pelvic pain, back pain, and diastasis recti are commonplace during your 9-month pregnancy. For many, using KT or kinesiology tape can minimise many of these pains. If you wish to use KT tape for pregnant belly discomfort and other physical issues, this guide will break down everything you need to know. Read on to learn how to tape pregnancy bellies properly and understand the benefits of such a treatment.

Using KT Tape For Pregnant Belly - A Complete Guide

This guide will break down the crucial factors around using KT tape in your pregnancy. First off, though, is using KT tape safe during pregnancy?

The simple answer is yes. KT tape is a pain management solution that can reduce the need for drugs and medication. This tape is used in many athletic pursuits to help minimise inflammation and to help reduce discomfort. Many people use KT tape for pregnancy back pain, arguably its primary usage. Some of the purported benefits of using KT tape for pregnancy can include:

Improved blood flow around the belly, which can help to reduce discomfort further
Balance out body positioning, making sure that your posture does not suffer so much
Supporting muscle activity in the areas taped, helping to reduce muscular stress
Pain relief from the discomfort that can come from the pressure on your body
The tape can last for as long as five days – yes, even with showering

However, this tape can also be used to help reduce pelvic discomfort and also for diastasis recti. In this guide, we will help you understand how to tape your pregnancy belly properly, the benefits of KT tape for pregnancy, and how to use KT tape to alleviate pelvic and back pain. When compared to other solutions such as placebos, KT tape for pregnancy has been shown to provide reduced back pain.

How To Tape Pregnancy Belly?

First off, there are several methods that you can use if you wish to help reduce discomfort during your pregnancy. However, most will begin simply by using the tape as a ‘belly band’ of sorts. Using KT tape for pregnant belly discomfort is as easy as the following to learn how to tape pregnancy belly bulges at the side and back:

Take a measuring tape and work out the diameter of your pregnancy belly so you know how much KT tape you will need to cut from a roll.
Invest in some KT tape, which you can manually cut to fit the length you need – it might make sense to cut a slightly longer portion than the diameter above.
Lie on your back and keep your knees bent and your feet flat. Take the KT tape and place a piece of tape under the belly first and foremost, using this as an anchor point.
Take the tape to the middle point of your belly, and then pull both ends upwards toward your chin. This will lift up your stomach, giving you space to attach the tape ends.
Attach the tape ends to ensure the rest of the tape is held securely. This should lift your belly without feeling like it is pulling or stretching.
Add additional tape across the top of your belly, ensuring it connects to the anchor tape you placed below your belly.
Once the KT tape for pregnancy belly is in place, rub it. This should activate the adhesive within the tape and ensure it sticks.
Be sure to cut off the corners of the KT tape so that it provides a rounded, smooth edge. This reduces the risk of itchiness and discomfort and ensures the tape lasts longer.
In some cases, especially as your pregnancy heightens and your belly becomes heavier, you might need to use a second KT tape strip to alleviate this.
Stand up to see if the tape is doing the job. If you still feel like your belly is sagging too much, add some extra tape upward that can help to pull the belly up with it.

This technique benefits you because it provides you with a reduction in ligament pain around the lower belly. Since your pelvic floor is going to be under sustained pressure during pregnancy, lifting the belly can reduce physical discomfort. What about other parts of the body, such as the pelvis and back?

The Importance of A Kinesio Tape For Diastasis Recti In Pregnancy

You have many options to consider when trying to reduce pain and discomfort during your pregnancy. Many other formerly pregnant women might suggest a belly belt to help alleviate pain. However, while such straps can be useful, they are better replaced using KT tape. This is a lightweight, easy-to-apply solution that can provide the same alleviation from pain.

One area where KT tape can help a pregnant person is when it comes to using kinesio tape pregnancy diastasis recti can be reduced significantly. What is this? Diastasis recti is when the two primary muscles that run down the middle section of your stomach become separated. This can happen during pregnancy – your health professionals might refer to it as ‘divarication’ instead.

Why should you use KT tape for diastasis recti? This can help reduce the separation level by keeping things closer together. At the same time, since the tape can reduce discomfort around your back, pelvis, and belly, this can improve your posture. Posture problems often start as a response to discomfort in the stomach and back; KT tape can help to reduce pain and thus keep your posture straight. Indeed, previous studies on the subject have shown that KT taping can help to assist with recovery from this condition.

Separation of any kind is not good for the body. The muscles tend to elongate, and elongated muscles are generally less resistant to injury and wear and tear. Thankfully, over time – usually around eight weeks after birth – your stomach muscles should normalise. Those weeks during and after pregnancy, though, can be very uncomfortable!

While time is the main healer for diastasis recti, recovering can take a long time. The medical team supporting you can provide recommended exercises to help speed up the process. Deep muscle exercises, in particular, will help to reduce the separation severity.

Kinesio Tape For Pelvic Pain During Pregnancy

If you are a child carrier who finds that they ‘carry low’ compared to the norm, you might suffer from pelvic pain and discomfort during your pregnancy. Using KT tape can help to lift the belly up and thus ensure it is not sitting as directly on the pelvis as it would have been normally. Using kinesio tape pregnancy pelvic pain can help reduce the pain level you feel on a day-to-day basis.

Applying the tape is relatively easy, too; focusing on your belly should help benefit the pelvis simultaneously. Follow the guide we have provided above for your belly, and the lifting of the belly should reduce pelvic pain at the same time.

Especially if you suffer from issues such as pubic symphysis disorder, you can find that using KT tape for pelvic pain during pregnancy can be useful. The tape will help to make the belly feel better balanced and thus lighter. Applying the tape as noted above for your stomach should help to stop your belly from sitting low enough to cause pelvic discomfort. This should help to stop ligaments feeling strained in and around the pelvis, too, ensuring that your day-to-day experience is, in general, more comfortable.

How To Use KT Tape For Pregnancy Back Pain?

If you are dealing with discomfort in your back, especially your lower back, then learning how to use KT tape for pregnancy back pain will be very important. The best way to provide support for your back and to reduce that dreaded lower back pain is to do the following:

Cut two strips of KT tape for pregnancy belly, as we have discussed in the first section. Ensure that both strips will be able to go around your belly in full.
Take one strip of your cut KT tape, and then have someone put it on one side of your lower back. Once you do this, stretch the rest of the tape.
Once the tape has been stretched, you need to apply this to the remainder of your lower back.
Now, take the second strip of KT tape and focus on stretching the middle section of the tape. Keep the ends un-stretched.
Do this and then apply the middle section of the tape before pulling both ends upwards as you did with your belly. Secure the tape as tightly as you can.
If you feel like your back still needs extra support, add some KT tape running from the bottom piece on your lower back upwards toward the top of your back.
Now, rub the tape again to help activate the adhesive structure and ensure it is properly stuck to the skin.

This simple method will ensure that your KT tape for pregnant belly discomfort reduction sticks properly. The lifting factor we have mentioned above will help to balance the weight of your belly. This will also help to reduce sagging, which stops pulling on the lower back muscles to the same degree.

Conclusion

Using the above, you hopefully feel more confident in using KT tape for pregnant belly discomfort and alleviating pain in the stomach, lower back, and pelvis. This offers the simplest, safest, most drug-free way to help get rid of some of those daily discomforts that can make pregnancy more challenging.

Try it out for yourself, and see just how easy it is to ensure your body feels better during pregnancy's challenges. Good luck, and happy birthing!