How to Tape Arches

If you have flat feet, heel spurs or another painful foot condition, you may wonder if there's a simple way to get relief. Arch strapping may relieve the symptoms for these conditions and also provide relief for other conditions such as shin splints. By wrapping and bandaging your feet with adhesive tape, which you can buy at your local drugstore, you can lift your arches and provide the relief you need.

Things You'll Need

• Skin toughener
• Roll of 1½-inch wide adhesive tape
• Roll of 1-inch wide adhesive tape

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Instructions

• 1

  Wash your feet. Shave them too if they are excessively hairy. Spray your feet with a skin toughener.

• 2

  Wrap a 1½-inch strip of tape around the ball of your foot once to create what are known as anchor strips. Don't pull the tape too tight; you want it to stay put but you don't want it be too snug. Athletic Advisor explains that you want to achieve a light tension.

  The reason these are called the anchor strips is because the other strips of tape will be placed on top of them and wrapped around the foot.

• 3

  Stick a strip of 1-inch tape onto your foot beginning on the anchor strip at the ball of your big toe, then stretch the tape diagonally under your arch and then around your heel and back to the ball of your big toe. Repeat this step by beginning with another strip of 1-inch tape starting at the ball of the little toe. The tape should now form a cross over the sole of your foot. Use a firm tension when pulling these strips across the foot under the arch, but once you reach the heel relax your grip on the tape and bring it around the heel, loosening the tension.

• 4

  Repeat step 3 ensuring the 1-inch tape overlaps the previous strips by ½-inch. Move across your foot until it is almost covered with the tape.

• 5

  Cover the remaining gaps by wrapping the 1½-inch tape horizontally around your foot beginning at the center. Do this while applying a firm pressure and wrap upward toward the heel. Keep overlapping the strips by one-half inch; you should use enough tape to strap your arch leaving only your heel and toes exposed.