Elastic therapeutic tape, also called kinesiology tape or kinesiology therapeutic tape, Kinesio tape, k-tape, or KT[1] is an elastic cotton strip with an acrylicadhesive that is purported to ease pain and disability from athletic injuries and a variety of other physical disorders.[2][3][4] In individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain, research suggests that elastic taping may help relieve pain, but not more than other treatment approaches, and no evidence indicates that it can reduce disability in chronic pain cases.[5]
No convincing scientific evidence indicates that such products provide any demonstrable benefit in excess of a placebo, with some declaring it a pseudoscientific treatment.[6][7][8]
History
Kenzo Kase, a Japanese-American chiropractor, developed the product in the 1970s. The company he founded markets variants under the brand name "Kinesio" and takes legal action to prevent the word being used as a genericised trademark.[2]
A surge in popularity resulted after the product was donated to Olympic athletes in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and 2012 London Summer Olympics.[9][10] The tapes' prominence and mass introduction to the general public have been attributed to Kerri Walsh who wore the tape on her shoulder, and who along with Misty May-Treanor dominated the 2008 beach volleyball event.[11] In 2012, science journalist Brian Dunning speculated on why he had not seen "a single athlete, pro beach volleyball players included, wear Kinesio Tape outside of the Olympics". He believes that "sponsorship dollars may be entirely responsible for the popularity of Kinesio Tape during televised events."[12]
Properties
Elastic therapeutic tape used for lower back pain on an older male.
The product is a type of thin, elastic cotton tape that can stretch up to 140% of its original length.[13] As a result, if the tape is applied stretched greater than its normal length, it will "recoil" after being applied and therefore create a pulling force on the skin. This elastic property allows much greater range of motion compared to traditional white athletic tape and can also be left on for long periods before reapplication.[14]
Designed to mimic human skin, with roughly the same thickness and elastic properties, the tape can be stretched 30–40% longitudinally.[13] It is a latex-free material with acrylic adhesive, which is heat activated. The cotton fibers allow for evaporation and quicker drying leading to longer wear time, up to 4 days.[15] How the tape is claimed to affect the body is dependent on the location and how it is applied; the stretch direction, the shape, and the location all supposedly play a role in the tape's hypothetical function.[15]
Effectiveness
Manufacturers have made a wide variety of claims, including that it provides physical support for muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints.[16] KT Health's web site at one point claimed the tape "lifts the skin, decompressing the layers of fascia, allowing for greater movement of lymphatic fluid which transports white blood cells throughout the body and removes waste products, cellular debris, and bacteria".[17] This increase in the interstitial space purportedly reduces pressure on the body's nociceptors, which detect pain, and stimulates mechanoreceptors, to improve overall joint proprioception.[18] Critics say these claims are not supported by evidence.[7]
In the article, Kinesio Tape for Athletes: A Big Help, or Hype?, Web MD reports that "There has not been conclusive scientific or medical evidence to confirm the effectiveness of the tape."[8]
In the 2012 article "Scientists sceptical as athletes get all taped up", Reuters reported that "In a review of all the scientific research so far, published in the Sports Medicine journal in February, researchers found 'little quality evidence to support the use of Kinesio tape over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries".[9] Some researchers claim that what athletes are experiencing is just a placebo effect.[19]
In July 2012, Steven Novella writing in Science-Based Medicine in the article "Olympic Pseudoscience'", examined the use of KT in the larger context of "sports-related pseudoscience". Novella says "The world of sports competition is rife with pseudoscience, false claims, dubious products, superstitions, and magical charms." Novella concluded that "Consumers should be very skeptical of claims made for products marketed as athletic performance enhancing."[6]
In August 2012, science journalist Brian Dunning reports in "Kinesio Tape: The Evidence" that positive studies of the tape are the result of people being deceived by a "stage magician's trick" – which he describes in detail – that is used to fool subjects into thinking strength or flexibility is being affected, when they are not. He reports that kinesio tape is claimed to be good for a plethora of issues including "pain management, injury treatment, injury prevention, enhanced performance, increased range of motion, and just about anything else an athlete might want." He concludes: "It sounds like a miracle — one simple product that does everything you can imagine. In short, a textbook snake oil product."[12]
A 2012 journal article from the Journal of Hand Therapy reported on a double blind study, where elastic therapeutic tape may be of some assistance to clinicians in improving pain-free active range of motion immediately after tape application for patients with shoulder pain. Utilization of the tape for decreasing pain intensity or disability for young patients with suspected shoulder tendonitis/impingement is not supported. After this short period there was no difference in improvement versus using sham tape.[13] Based on two different studies, kinesio tape showed quicker drainage than manually and better patient compliance.[20][unreliable medical source?]
A 2012 meta analysis found that the efficacy of elastic therapeutic tape in pain relief was trivial, because no reviewed study found clinically important results. The tape "may have a small beneficial role in improving strength, range of motion in certain injured cohorts, and force sense error compared with other elastic tapes, but further studies are needed to confirm these findings".[18][unreliable medical source?] The same article concluded: "KT had some substantial effects on muscle activity, but it was unclear whether these changes were beneficial or harmful. In conclusion, there was little quality evidence to support the use of KT over other types of elastic taping in the management or prevention of sports injuries"[18][unreliable medical source?]
A 2013 journal article examined the use of Kinesio Tape and Stretching on shoulder joint range of motion (ROM). Participants with no history of shoulder injuries were assigned to three treatment groups. One using Kinesio Tape only, one stretching only, and one using both Kinesio Tape and stretching. It was found that the usage of Kinesio Tape can increase shoulder ROM, and that stretching had no effect on shoulder ROM if being used alone or when coupled with the Kinesio Tape.[21]
A 2014 meta analysis looked at methodological quality of studies, along with overall population effect, and suggested that studies of lower methodological quality are more likely to report beneficial effects of elastic therapeutic taping, thus indicating the perceived effect of using kinesio taping is not real. It also suggested that applying elastic therapeutic tape, "to facilitate muscular contraction has no, or only negligible, effects on muscle strength".[22]
A 2015 meta analysis found that the taping provided more pain relief than no treatment at all, but was not better than other treatment approaches in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.[5] The same meta analysis did not find any significant changes in disability as a result of taping.[5]
A 2016 journal article in the Journal of Exercise Therapy and Rehabilitation conducted a study to test if the colors of Kinesio Tape had any effect on patient perception in patients with tight trapezius muscles. The study had fifty female subjects with tight trapezius muscle. Five different colored tapes were used, red, blue, black, white, and beige. It was found that the color of the tape might affect the feelings of the participants, but no difference to the trapezius muscle was noted.[23]
In June 2016, an article published by The Physician and Sportsmedicine found that treatment for Pes anserinus bursitis using Kinesio Tape significantly decreased pain and swelling when compared to Naproxen (an anti inflammatory medicine) + Physical Therapy. Both forms of treatment were effective but the Kinesio Taping was far more effective on reduction of pain, based on a visual analog scale (VAS) and swelling based on the swelling scores. Swelling score was determined by the use of soft tissue sonography.[24]
In March 2018, Science-Based Medicine again examined KT in response to its public use at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the article A Miscellany of Medical Malarkey Episode 3: The Revengening. The article reports that:
The claims made by manufacturers and promoters of the tape are highly implausible, particularly those involving increased muscle strength, improved blood flow to an injured areas, and better lymphatic drainage to reduce swelling. No evidence supports these claims. Pain reduction and injury prevention are also frequently-cited benefits that similarly lack evidence, at least none showing an effect specific to kinesio tape... There is no evidence of a specific benefit related to kinesio tape itself, or to any kind of expert application of it.[7]
In November 2018, Science-Based Medicine describes a new study published the same month in the online journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation which examines the effectiveness of different colors of kinesiology tape, as well as reexamining general effectiveness of kinesiology tape against a placebo. Describing the conclusions of the study, they write:
Nothing mattered. Tape color didn't matter. Color preference didn't matter. "Proper" placement of KT with tension didn't matter. No effect on performance, strength, or function was found in any experimental round compared to the control round for any of the subjects.[25]
Deceptive marketing lawsuit
In 2017, KT Health settled a class action lawsuit in Massachusetts, resolving claims of unjust enrichment and untrue and misleading marketing. It agreed to pay $1.75 million to refund half the purchase price of the tape, representing the premium paid above traditional athletic tape.[17] The brand also agreed to drop claims that the tape "will keep you pain-free", "prevents injury", or provides "24-hour pain relief", and add the disclaimer "not clinicially proven for all injuries".[17]
Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In European countries, a person professionally trained to give massages is traditionally known as a masseur (male) or masseuse (female). In the United States, these individuals are often referred to as "massage therapists". In some provinces of Canada, they are called "registered massage therapists."
Sports injuries are injuries that occur during sport, athletic activities, or exercising. In the United States, there are approximately 30 million teenagers and children who participate in some form of organized sport. Of those, about three million athletes age 14 years and under experience a sports injury annually. According to a study performed at Stanford University, 21 percent of the injuries observed in elite college athletes caused the athlete to miss at least one day of sport, and approximately 77 percent of these injuries involved the knee, lower leg, ankle, or foot. In addition to those sport injuries, the leading cause of death related to sports injuries is traumatic head or neck occurrences.
A sprain is a soft tissue injury of the ligaments within a joint, often caused by a sudden movement abruptly forcing the joint to exceed its functional range of motion. Ligaments are tough, inelastic fibers made of collagen that connect two or more bones to form a joint and are important for joint stability and proprioception, which is the body's sense of limb position and movement. Sprains may be mild, moderate, or severe, with the latter two classes involving some degree of tearing of the ligament. Sprains can occur at any joint but most commonly occur in the ankle, knee, or wrist. An equivalent injury to a muscle or tendon is known as a strain.
Stretching is a form of physical exercise in which a specific muscle or tendon is deliberately expanded and flexed in order to improve the muscle's felt elasticity and achieve comfortable muscle tone. The result is a feeling of increased muscle control, flexibility, and range of motion. Stretching is also used therapeutically to alleviate cramps and to improve function in daily activities by increasing range of motion.
Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the first steps of the day or following a period of rest. Pain is also frequently brought on by bending the foot and toes up towards the shin. The pain typically comes on gradually, and it affects both feet in about one-third of cases.
Achilles tendinitis, also known as achilles tendinopathy, occurs when the Achilles tendon, found at the back of the ankle, becomes sore. Achilles tendinopathy is accompanied by alterations in the tendon's structure and mechanical properties. The most common symptoms are pain and swelling around the affected tendon. The pain is typically worse at the start of exercise and decreases thereafter. Stiffness of the ankle may also be present. Onset is generally gradual.
Cryotherapy, sometimes known as cold therapy, is the local or general use of low temperatures in medical therapy. Cryotherapy may be used to treat a variety of tissue lesions. The most prominent use of the term refers to the surgical treatment, specifically known as cryosurgery or cryoablation. Cryosurgery is the application of extremely low temperatures to destroy abnormal or diseased tissue and is used most commonly to treat skin conditions.
Manual therapy, or manipulative therapy, is a physical treatment primarily used by physical therapists, occupational therapists to treat musculoskeletal pain and disability; it mostly includes kneading and manipulation of muscles, joint mobilization and joint manipulation. It is also used by Rolfers, massage therapists, athletic trainers, osteopaths, and physicians.
Rotator cuff tendinopathy is a process of senescence. The pathophysiology is mucoid degeneration. Most people develop rotator cuff tendinopathy within their lifetime.
Athletic training is an allied health care profession recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA) that "encompasses the prevention, examination, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of emergent, acute, or chronic injuries and medical conditions." There are five areas of athletic training listed in the seventh edition (2015) of the Athletic Training Practice Analysis: injury and illness prevention and wellness promotion; examination, assessment, diagnosis; immediate and emergency care; therapeutic intervention; and healthcare administration and professional responsibility.
In medicine, a stinger, also called a burner or nerve pinch injury, is a neurological injury suffered by athletes, mostly in high-contact sports such as ice hockey, rugby, American football, and wrestling. The spine injury is characterized by a shooting or stinging pain that travels down one arm, followed by numbness and weakness in the parts of the arms, including the biceps, deltoid, and spinati muscles. Many athletes in contact sports have suffered stingers, but they are often unreported to medical professionals.
Achilles tendon rupture is when the Achilles tendon, at the back of the ankle, breaks. Symptoms include the sudden onset of sharp pain in the heel. A snapping sound may be heard as the tendon breaks and walking becomes difficult.
A sprained ankle is an injury where sprain occurs on one or more ligaments of the ankle. It is the most commonly occurring injury in sports, mainly in ball sports such as basketball, volleyball, football, and tennis.
An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during injury, instability of the knee, and joint swelling. Swelling generally appears within a couple of hours. In approximately 50% of cases, other structures of the knee such as surrounding ligaments, cartilage, or meniscus are damaged.
Cold compression therapy, also known as hilotherapy, combines two of the principles of rest, ice, compression, elevation to reduce pain and swelling from a sports or activity injury to soft tissues and is recommended by orthopedic surgeons following surgery. The therapy is especially useful for sprains, strains, pulled muscles and pulled ligaments.
An elastic bandage is a "stretchable bandage used to create localized pressure". Elastic bandages are commonly used to treat muscle sprains and strains by reducing the flow of blood to a particular area by the application of even stable pressure which can restrict swelling at the place of injury. Elastic bandages are also used to treat bone fractures. Padding is applied to the fractured limb, then a splint is applied. The elastic bandage is then applied to hold the splint in place and to protect it. This is a common technique for fractures which may swell, which would cause a cast to function improperly. These types of splints are usually removed after swelling has decreased and then a fiberglass or plaster cast can be applied.
Therapeutic ultrasound refers generally to any type of ultrasonic procedure that uses ultrasound for therapeutic benefit. Physiotherapeutic ultrasound was introduced into clinical practice in the 1950s, with lithotripsy introduced in the 1980s. Others are at various stages in transitioning from research to clinical use: HIFU, targeted ultrasound drug delivery, trans-dermal ultrasound drug delivery, ultrasound hemostasis, cancer therapy, and ultrasound assisted thrombolysis It may use focused ultrasound or unfocused ultrasound.
Straining of the hamstring, also known as a pulled hamstring, is defined as an excessive stretch or tear of muscle fibers and related tissues. Hamstring injuries are common in athletes participating in many sports. Track and field athletes are particularly at risk, as hamstring injuries have been estimated to make up 29% of all injuries in sprinters. Hamstring injuries can also come with a hip injury from sprinting. Symptoms for a hip injury are pain, aching and discomfort while running or any physical exercise.
Athletic taping is the process of applying tape directly to the skin or over pre-wrap in order to maintain a stable position of bones and muscles during athletic activity. It is a procedure that uses athletic tape, attached to the skin, to physically hold muscles or bones at a certain position. This reduces pain and aids recovery. Taping is usually used to help recover from overuse and other injuries.
Swimming injuries have many different causes, and can occur immediately or can occur as the result of a long-term swimming career. Some ways that swimmers can increase the risk of an injury are by overuse of a specific part of the body, lacking crucial flexibility and strength, etc. These injuries, like swimmer's shoulder and breaststroker’s knee, cause pain to the swimmer in certain regions that permit necessary movement for the required precise technique. Although these injuries can halt a professional swimmer's career, many can be treated and some can even be prevented. There are different procedures and exercises that can either prevent an injury or help with recovering from an injury. Many of the exercises are specific to the injury and vary in helpfulness according to the person and the technique used for the exercise.
1 2 3 Lim EC, Tay MG (2015). "Kinesio taping in musculoskeletal pain and disability that lasts for more than 4 weeks: is it time to peel off the tape and throw it out with the sweat? A systematic review with meta-analysis focused on pain and also methods of tape application". British Journal of Sports Medicine. 49 (24): 1558–1566. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-094151. PMID25595290.
1 2 Bassett K, Lingman S, Ellis R (2010). "The use and treatment efficacy of kinaesthetic taping for musculoskeletal conditions: A systematic review". New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy.
↑ Csapo R, Alegre L (2014). "Effects of Kinesio taping on skeletal muscle strength-A meta-analysis of current evidence". Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport. 1053 (4): 1–7. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2014.06.014. PMID25027771.
↑ Homayouni, Kaynoosh; Foruzi, Shima; Kalhori, Fereshte (September 2016). "Effects of kinesiotaping versus non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and physical therapy for treatment of pes anserinus tendino-bursitis: A randomized comparative clinical trial". The Physician and Sportsmedicine. 44 (3): 252–256. doi:10.1080/00913847.2016.1199251. ISSN2326-3660. PMID27276165. S2CID32213662.
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