Kineso Tape - No more Granny tights - funky pink feet instead!

I hurt my foot a few years ago, it was just a small hairline fracture but since then it has not stopped swelling up.  A lot appears to be due to my reduced mobility issues causing lack of good circulation, however every now and again it just swells right up.

I have been wearing ugly compression socks for 3 years, they are tight, fall down and are very expensive to buy.  I then moved onto a small compression bandage, I liked that as it was comfortable but it was pushing the fluid into my toes!  

A few weeks ago I had another flare and look what happened to my poor foot!  

It was so swollen I could not fit my shoes on at all and when I pressed the top it indented as above for ages afterwards.  

I was googling ways to help reduce the swelling when I spotted a link to Kineso taping, I have seen it previously but I have to be honest that I was very skeptical about how some tape would reduce the swelling, I was however at the end of my tether so decided to buy some and give it a go.  

The tape comes in many different sizes and colours but I opted to buy some bright pink as it is my favourite colour.  

The tape is really easy to use, simply measure how much you need of the roll by measuring it against the area you are taping then cut two identical strips of it.  

Next with the scissors you need to cut three cuts almost to the top of the strip so that it divides the lower section into four smaller strips that looks like this. 

Next you remove the sticky backing and tape the full section around the area of the ankle you are taping.  Then pulling gently to stretch the tape a little draw it out and stick it onto your foot.  Repeat with both pieces of tape so they cover a side each. 

The tape does keep coming off my foot if I am honest and looks insane (re thinking the bright colour in favour of a skin tone for future lol) but the impact it made upon the swelling was beyond outstanding.  Within a week the foot looked like this.

I was blown away, while there is still swelling it went down so fast and is far more comfortable than the compression socks.  

After a month the swelling is the best it has been since the injury, while I still have a small amount around the ankle joint I have loose skin around the top of the foot and toes again.  I can also leave it untaped over night if I wish and it does not swell straight back up.  

This is my foot today, I am over the moon with it, I am hoping to buy some new shoes now I can fit the swollen foot back into one.  It's been 3 years I have been wearing compression stockings and doing the physio exercises I was given with absolutely no effect.  I sincerely wish I had taken the leap of faith sooner and tried it but now I have there is no way I will be going back!

I have been unable to find anything much about how it works but all I know is that it has for me as you can see with amazing results!  

Blackpool Trip 2

My second trip started with some bad news, one of my favourite performers injured herself and is now off the show.  I am absolutely gutted for her, hope she gets better soon!  I sincerely missed her during the performance, however it did open up the chance for me to see one of the swings on which always excites me.

I managed a little bit of sight seeing this trip and the camera clicking tourist in me came out!  OH NO!!!

The first full day I woke up and was not in as much pain as usual, the sun was out so I decided to go and investigate one of the piers, I am not sure which one it is but it was really run down, it was pretty sad.

The view however was stunning!  This was the view from the start of the pier of the next pier.

It's been many years since I have been to Blackpool but I have to admit I had never noticed that there was no sand beach but simply the steps at this end of the Beach.  I am clearly so used to Scarborough!

This is the view in the opposite direction, as you can see the building looks so worn out it's sad.  I did not actually take photos of this, but at the start of the pier there were several sections so worn and weathered there were barriers up to stop access to them.  What worried me was that these were not safely fastened in place and several had simply fallen over.

The state of the whole pier upset me, they are such an important part of our heritage and yet so little used these days.  I do not understand why there is not more done on them, the view is beautiful and in a warm conservatory type building I am sure people would come and sit to eat/drink while watching the sea even during the winter if they got better roofing and sides for people on the walkways also.  For me it would be worth the money from a city that draws in HUGE crows in September onwards with the lights being on.  They could even have lights on the piers and have people walk along them to view them!  

Just look at the state of the current seating along the side!  Would you feel safe stopping here?

Just a simple view at the end but such a waste of area, the most beautiful view and not even anywhere for visitors to sit?! 

This one just had to make the blog, as a theatre fan I spend a lot of my time at stage doors, so when I spotted this on the pier at the side of the pub it made me smile.  

Just a pretty view - so many seats, I would have loved to have seen it when it was busy and in use!

After my walk along the front, I ended up in the arcades and had a little play on the 2p slots.  I get very addicted to clearing out a machine of some toy that I will never use!  I am just grateful it's a 2p addiction and nothing worse lol!  

Look what happened after 3 days at the seaside and several trips to the various arcades!  

Oh well at least I had fun and as you can see I won the fight with the key rings lol! 

Cats - new cast!

MY TRIP! 

I have been away for a few days watching the new cast of Cats the Musical, it's currently showing at the Opera House in Blackpool, within the Winter Gardens complex.

I have not been to Blackpool for many years so I was a mixture of excited and worried that I would manage with me health issues.

HOTEL!

I wanted to stop with Travelodge however they were all at the far end of the beach and also very expensive so I opted to try a B&B.  This is very rare for me due to my sleeping issues, however it was so cheap I was able to pay for an extra night and check out as late as I wanted.  Worked out nicely! 

I rang ahead to make sure my room was ready however upon arrival I found that they had forgotten to get the room ready for me.  Not the best start lol.  

The room was tiny, a little dusty and in need of a good vaccum but overall clean enough and certainly comfortable.

THE WINTER GARDENS!

The theatre was closer than I realised which was really nice to discover, as I found that there was a short cut through a side entrance to the Winter Gardens.

It was however sad to see some of the Winter Gardens in such a run down state see the photos below of one of the old entrances!

Once inside you got to the areas in use it is a different matter, they have really kept up the building and it is beautiful, I did not get any photos but will on my next trip!  

THE SHOW!

I was let down by my seat once I got into the show, a large section of the stage was limited by the side of the set.  I would not have minded if the seat had been a restricted view chair, however it was a premium seat!  

The section sticking out is the side of the set, it is at an angle so there was things happening that were blocked from my view.  

The seat was also loacking in leg room and the stage a little high for a premium view seat.  

My first night at the show was the casts second live show, I was throughly impressed by everyone involved. I doubt anyone in the audience would have guessed this fact if they did not know.  

Notable performaces for me were the new twins (tantomile and copricat) the pairing is perfect, they really do echo each other well but also had me stunned wich some of the impressive lifts they performed.

Clare and Paul who play jellylorum and Gus shone for me as always, during a lot of the show while Clare has a number of important singing numbers its her solo that really makes her shine, she's able to portray how gentle, caring and motherly that Jellylorum is one minute then jump into the evil Lady Griddlebone where clare switches to a rather sexy naughty all white cat. 

Equally Paul amazes with hisbrilliant portrayal of a very elderly cat remembering his youth then jumps within seconds into the evil partner of Lady Griddlebone. 

I was especially excited to see Danielle Cato's performance as Cassandra.  I have seen Danielle in a number of shows, but always as a dancer until now.  She is a very talented beautiful dancer, she always stands out on stage for me, so it did not shock me that her performance was beautifully done, however she also nailed her solo singing which made me smile because this is the first show I have seen her with a solo vocal section.   I also loved the part when she tried to get away from being chosen by Misto for the magic trick, she managed to look shocked but still hold that air of refinement that we expect of Cass.  

I enjoyed the new mungo and Rumple but I have to admit I did miss the previous duo that performed the part a little.  The old Mungo was so cheeky he was always funny to watch.  The new pair were amazing though and equal in their performance and acro skills.  

Jane MacDonald looked very old and sad as Grizz, I have to admit I was very unsure what to expect from her but once she opened up and really started singing I found I was not actually breathing.  She absolutely floored me!  At the end of Memory she actually started crying and I found myself wanting to literally reach out to her, I felt so sorry for her I wanted to comfort her.  

STAGE DOOR!

After the show I nipped to the stage door, it was so lovely to see an inside one for a change.  

I managed to grab a photo with Clare and Danielle 😊

CLARE - JELLYLORUM/LADY GRIDDLEBONE

DANIELLE - CASSANDRA

Overall a lovely first night other than the view!