Dear Gustavo

The method of use of Kinesio Taping was developed by Dr. Kenzo Kase in the 70s in Japan , and its differential is the stimulation of cutaneous , muscular and lymphatic system, and the stabilization of joints . In recent years , the technique has been a great ally of physiotherapists , who can use the tapes without restriction in any patient.

Applications of Kinesio reduce edema and pain of muscle injuries . This is because the pressure causes pain in the receptor , sensory, and neurological and is relieved through the band undulations promotes raising the skin , which makes improve blood circulation , and allowing the lymphatic system to flow more freely.

It also promotes treatment and prevention of common injuries such as sprains , tendonitis and other causes of pain and functional limitation . This band , plus lightweight, elastic , strong and highly effective for pain relief , stability , muscle and joint support . The technique involves the application of a special elastic tape over the area to be stimulated . These tapes are peculiar for not restrict your movement and can be used in patients of any age

This site may be useful for you: Kinesio Taping Association International

Dear Nelson Elias, fantastic contribution with a wide view of Kinesio Taping.

In which cases or types of sports lesions do you think it could be used?

Dear Gustavo and Nelson,

KT may have a beneficial role in strength training and certain patients with limited range of motion. There is a dearth of evidence. Further well designed studies on this topic may answer this question. Try this link for more details:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124445

Best,

Amit

Dear Gustavo

As Amit said there is not yet sufficient evidence on this method but it is widely used in myalgia, tendonitis and contusions

Greeting dear Nelson well explained. In addition, KT has different techniques of applications. Cutting the KT tape appropriately itself is a art. In my experience I had frequently used "Y" shape technique to facilitate supraspinatus muscle and it gives fantastic result. I am still exploring in various soft tissue injuries.

Dear Gustavo,

As a athlete (sprinter) I used Kinesio-Taping. My experience is that KT is good for nothing. Moreover not only good for nothing but the tape irritating me during the wearing and after it. My opinion is that it has not got any significant benefit, advantage, preventive effect. I think anything else is just bla-bla. In my life I have had only one case when the taping helped, when my lateral ankle ligaments broke, but that tape was not a "streachie" one. I think that KT is a trend, fashion, it has only one effect for performance or healing and that factor is only psychological. You are playing better basketball in a new shoe aren't you?

Dear Bares, I partially agree with you. I think the concept of 25% stretch may have disappointing support of injured tissue.

Dear Amit, thanks for your point of view. Great article regarding a meta-analyses of 97 articles! It seems it´s unclear the benefecial/harmful effects of Kinesio-Taping and the need of more studies regarding sports injury prevention.

Do you think it could be a posibility for an athlete like Béres Sándor, imagining that he has a smooth miotendinous lesion as well as an important competition soon?

It is interesting Béres´ experience, as Kinesio-Tape suppose to be hypoallergenic (w/ no latex), can get wet (good for swimmers)...

Matter of fashion or psychological effects of cromotherapy? Good question Béres. What researchers could tell us about that???

Article:

The use of phototherapy and photochromotherapy in the combined treatment of the patients presenting with astheno-depressive syndrome and neurotic disorders

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22693734

Dear Ratan, thank you for your contribution.

You give us an important view as the experience tapping with KT using the appropiate technique could be key.

As you know there are several manuals regarding each type lesion and location....

Thanks all.

Good point, Gustavo. Yeah, Beres' experience is worth mentioning. Negative findings are equally important. Furthermore, placebo effect can also be either beneficial or harmful. I think, a new shoe can make you play better or worse or do nothing. Roger? I had a toe injury due to an ill fitting shoe. Now I only wear one suitable to my foot architecture. Similarly KT usage should be individualized.

As this paper by Kir'iannova VV is in Russian, I suppose participants were from Russia itself. Notably during dark Norwegian winter, we also consider phototherapy and photochromotherapy in people with astheno-depressive symptoms.

I think that perhaps Kinesio Taping is now too generic a name and relates to specific aspects of use. My own experiences and that of some German researchers (articles pending) indicate a large amount of uses, such as.

Inhibition of activity in recovery

stimulation of activity in rehabilitation and increase in range of motion

Control of pain by decreasing nociceptive outputs

I think we are just at the start of a new era in use of therapeutic taping and while Kenzo Kase's work still holds true, there are much more avenues to beneficially explore.

The biggest inhibition to progress is the large amount of similar (but claimed to be differing) tapes with branded names

Dear Ron, great point of view!!!Kenzo Kase's invention 30 year ago could start a new era of prevention in the usage of taping as you said, but it is true that all the marketing interests associated could influence in the real outcome of the usage of these kind of tapes. New studies should be perfomed to know the real indications and to specify the propper way to cut and apply the KT.

How much time would you should maintain KT before changing it a high-demanded athlete??? And which information do would you give him about the real benefits of KT as a sports phisycian?

Typically I see tape staying on for 3-4 days minimum, before being refreshed, but in most cases the proprioceptive and kinesthetic input starts within less than an hour.

I have used most types of tapes including titanium impregnated, mostly with similar effects. In terms of pain the effects are immediate and often resolve long term pain situations without further physical therapy.

I plan to do some work on this soon, but always I have to rely on pain scale measures as outcomes, which are mostly unsatisfactory.

Mostly you don't have to explain much - they feel the change almost immediately. You can easily convince if you explain you're guiding the bodies response

Thank you Ron to share with us your methodology.

Here a nice article about the effect of microtitanium impregnated tape as Ron Coutts was refering to.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3863395/

I think kinesiological tape is another 'tool in the toolbox'. It works on some patients; it doesn't work on others. I believe it's worth trying in some patients, particularly those with musculoskeletal pain related to muscle imbalance. While I believe the tape provides more along the lines of proprioception and pain relief, the research remains inconclusive regarding the mechanism or efficacy of kinesiological taping. Many studies are of low quality. The theory of directional taping affecting muscle tone remains unproven. The theory of lymphatic drainage remains unproven, but I've seen anecdotal evidence clinically. Clinical practice generally outpaces published research, but I see a recent surge in publications on kinesiology taping. It's important for clinicians to use the best evidence with clinical experience and the patients needs in mind. If kinesiology taping helps decrease a patients pain so they can perform a better movement pattern, I will use it. If not, I find something else that does.

Phil,

I have seen some favorable results in the pediatric population utilizing kinesiotape and muscle specific strengthening. Look at articles by Beverly Cusick. She does a great job describing specific uses. She also utilizes thera-togs

dear Gustavo, just joining this conversation.....

You are so right when you say 'Kenzo Kase's invention 30 year ago could start a new era of prevention in the usage of taping as you said, but it is true that all the marketing interests associated could influence in the real outcome of the usage of these kind of tapes.'

But something else has happenend in these 30 odd years as well. Numerous people have started using the tape in a completely different fashion. I have just added an article about this (regarding patello femoral pain and the many ways to tape)

I never use the tape as ;'prescribed' by dr. K.Kase anymore. The more I learned about the skin, THE AREA WE ARE APPLYING OUR TAPE TO, the more I started using less tape. I use the techniques where they are needed and 'ask' the skin (body/brain) in which direction to tape if need be.

I have also noticed that in children, adults and the elderly, less tape has a better effect.

Dr. Guimberteau's videos have shown us that skin that has been stretched always endevours to return to its original shape. The studies of T.Fukui on physiological movement of skin, knowledge of the dermatomes and Langer lines and my own experience with the skin technique of the bindegewebsmassage (Teilrich Leube/ Dicke) has made me use the tape in 'another' fashion.

The awareness of the role of the skin, has also made that I only stretch the skin when needed and use little to ZERO stretch.

AND something everyone seems to neglect is the fact that tape properties (even of of the colours of one brand) DO VARY.... make research difficult to interpret when various brands have been used.

I agree with Jo that the use of this tape can be very benificial in paeditrics.

Even wrote a book about it :)

Again I use much less tape.....

In my experience of Kinesio Tape, I use tape in a antalgic goal (it's the principal effect of the kinesio tape when we read the few review available) and in particuliar case, for a proprioceptive action because the sensation of tension helps in movement in sport like a reminder support.

It is complementary with manual therapy. I prefer first make an osteopathic treatment and then, in order to improve the patient recovery, i use a KT. Like Phil Page, I think it's a another 'tool in the toolbox'.

I'm writing a short text about Kinesio tape in osteopathic health care (in french) and i tought KT helps in special case. I could translate it in english and paste it here when I finish it, if you want.

I have been using KT tape for patients, mostly chronic pain. Some benefit, some do not notice any difference. For those it helps, it means some relief or better function, with less medication, and side effects are nil. We even have hypo-allergenic tape for those rare that are sensitive to the regular adhesive.

About a year ago I sprained my ankle, and initially treated with a compressive tape to address the swelling. After several days, I thought I should at least try the KT, since I use it on patients. However, I really didn't see how it could help an acute ankle sprain. I taped my ankle. Shortly thereafter I found myself walking with almost no pain. I figured that my ankle has just gotten better, and so was probably not a good test for the tape. About a half hour later after removing the tape, the pain returned. I used it off an on to see if there was a difference, and every time I used the tape, I felt great. Even with an understanding of the possible mechanisms, each time I used the tape, I had a hard time believing it was really doing anything, but the pain relief was impressive. If it was a placebo effect, then it was a better placebo effect than anything else I was doing. (I wonder if blue KT is more effective the way blue pills are?). Either way, my ankle thanks me, as do my liver, kidney, GI tract and brain that were spared.

I used it occasionally before the sprain, and now I use it more often, though my reason is not really scientific. But patients like it.

Thank you Duane for sharing your personal and profesional experience with Kinesio-Tape. As you work in the US Army Medical Center your experience with chronic pain should be impresive!

Dear Laurent offcourse we are likely to read your text about Kinesio tape in osteopathic health care. If you don´t mind to translate it would be great; )

Dear Esther, thank you for joining us. Seing your personal profile, your management with KT seems to be very important. Would you mind to share with us some of those Dr. Guimberteau's videos, or your own knowledge as the way KT should be applied??

As you said the marketing interests associated with KT and all the sports could confound the outcome of the usage of these kind of tapes. It seems that further studies with the real indications should be performed in order to standarize criteria and phisiologic comprehension of Kinesio-Taping.

Yes, I can share. Kinesiotaping is sham or placebo. And I suspect, as the earlier nasal tapes to improve oxygen input (soccer european championships) are after 2 years of nonsense use disappeared, kinesiotaping will fail. Just to strengthen my case, I asked the olympic champion in artistic gymnastics, Marcel Nguyen and the world champion in powerlifting (I forgot the name), if they use some kind of tape for prevention or treatment. Both said, they think it is not helpful but more contra productive. The rationale behind is not really clear or proven and, I think, wrong.

Duane

I have also taped sprained ankle, and it works well, for those I done it at. As some claim that the colours matter I search about it and there is no evidence at all for that.

I use the colour the individual prefers, but for infants and individuals with sensitive skin I use "gentle". I never seen any adverse effect by the colour.

Jean Have you tested the tape?

Kinesiology taping is a complement to the treatment, not "the" treatment. It mostly is a good complement and can be used with different techniques with different purpose.

I have used the tape on infants, randomized study, blinded evaluator, standardized test and there were a significant difference between the groups. Infants have no placebo as they do not know what I want to achieve.

dear Jean,

This tape has much more potential than being a placebo tape only... the good thing is that it can also be one :) This can be extremely helpful in atlethes and some others.

I have seen the positive results in patients that are very cognitively impaired and like Anna, I have seen it in young infants as well and I am presuming that there are no placebo effects in this age group.

dear Anna,

I agree completely with you that we use it with many different techniques and different purposes. In most cases it is used as an extra adjuct (tool) in the whole treatment. I have also seen its effects as ONLY treatment option. One of the most spectacular being the s-tape and its positive effects on drooling.

I have seen the adverse effects of colour. A number of adults (course participants) and adolescents have experienced nausea, have fainted, felt extremely unwell with tell-tale autonomic signs of sweating, goosebumps, shivering etc.

The best way to handle any such reaction has been to remove the tape immediately and we have seen that everyone 'recuperates' in one or two minutes.

Main colours that given this effect have been the red (pink), orange and black (of various brands).

How can we measure in this case the 'recuperate' level or the usefulness of the taping? I think that he or she feel something is not enough to prove the (significance) benefit of KT.

Esther

Interesting that you have seen this problem with the colours, I have never seen it, and I use a mostly pink and black tape for children older than 1-2 years of age.

I have looked it up and could not find any evidence for effect by colour, this would be interesting to investigated (even that I never seen this effect that you describe).

Béres

I agree you cant measure the feeling, you have to use objective issues to measure. To test on healthy athletes will probably not give the answer. To investigate if individuals with a diagnosis e.g. EDS can perform better with tape than with out tape could be one way. I have seen good effects for children with hyper mobility or EDS, mostly without the children understanding what I want to test.

More evidence for effect/or no effect, when to use/and when to not use are needed.

dear Anna,

I am very aware of the influence colours can have not only in this taping but in general. I attended the courses on meridian colour therapy of Christel Heidemann many years ago and have seen the profound effects colour can have in my professional lifetime.

I therefor promote NOT using colours in children especially in the the young ones.

dear Béres,

Before I tape I always try to find an objective test (could be a functional test) that I can use to measure the effects. I retest after the application and monitor the effect. In most cases the effect is immediate, in some we have to wait for a longer period (days). I need to see results of my application otherwise I will change it or even decide not to use tape.

We played with some US imaging and Kinesio and you can see the recoil effect and deeper level of the tissue, thus likely to have an effect on allowing space for lymph drainage. Can change the proprioceptive input to the brain and affect the locomotor system. As Phil Page mentioned, it has its' purpose and need to be tested on individual basis.

I have great results using the EDF techniques along the fascial meridians to improve ASLR. Test and retest !

Thank you dear Eitan for your comment. In which type of lesions do you apply KT?

How do you think EDF (Epidermis, Dermis, Fascia) application of the KT could be enhaced?

Hamstrings, RC pathologies, and at times non painful dysfunctions and/or fascial limitations. I do use trail and error based on my evaluation and using other taping methodologies such as the McConnell approach. I think for inhibition of muscle activity, Leukotape works better (unless you want your patient to through a full ROM). EDF could be applied by "less is more concept." Do not put the tissue as much on stretch as it was earlier directed us and much less tension on the tape. Use long Y strip along the fascial line.

Hi Eitan,

I have heard more colleagues talk about the fact that they see an immediate effect of taping the skin on deep lying muscles. I only know of one study looking into this. (Motion Tracking on Elbow Tissue from Ultrasonic Image Sequence for Patients with Lateral Epicondylitis by Yuh-Hwan Liu et al 2007 Conf.IEEE)

Do you know of any more? If so, please let me know and can you please share your experience or images?

And can someone make clear what K.Kase means with his EDF® (Epidermis, Dermis, & Fascia) Taping techniques? I know about his 'wheel shapped' application. But this is the first time I hear about the EDF application.

I would like to understand the rationale behind this.

A lot of us have discovered that less is more, less tape and less stretch. I would say that the exception to this is the high level athleet... who need a lot of 'input'.....

It is really difficult to find a clear answer to the question does"therapeutic taping" work.

I have used now some 6 types of tapes at various price structures and characteristics, all claiming differing benefits and performance, my data shows:

Taping for pain reduction works circa 90% of the time

Taping for keloid scarring works 50% of the time

Taping for oedema works every time

Taping for improving performance usually works when associated with removal of restriction and or pain

I think there are different product specs, but to what level of positive help - don't have any data. Maybe a number of us should work on a testing protocol and form collective data.

Esther, unfortunately I do not know of any specific research. When I get back to my work on Monday (currently taking visceral manipulation seminar) I can send you few presentations from the last year's international Kinesio symposium that we hosted at Stanford.

That would be wonderful. I could not attend and am very very interested....

Dear Ron,

You wrote: "Taping for oedema works every time". What does it exactly mean? Taping for oedema? Is it really the best solution? What about situations when taping is on therefore it can not be cure with other (much better) methods because of the tape.

Beres,

I meant that every time I've used it in patterns which are generally the prescribed Kenzo Kase techniques one can see the removal of oedema by the way the tape sinks in, and in addition you can see the clear tiger/zebra stripes in any associated haematomas.

Eitan, I'd love any available papers on the subject

Hi Ron,

Are you documenting everything? Please do and write an article.

So far I have found very little research on effects of secondary lymphoedema (excluding lymphoedema after mamma cancer surgery) Have found an open access SR on all possibilties for this group including the taping.

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1471-2407-12-6.pdf

So far I have seen spectacular pictures all over the internet of the effects of taping haematomas but again, very little research. Non comparing bruises and controls or other treatment options.

Our big problem is that yes..... in the clinic we are all seeing these marvelous results but we are not able to 'prove' that these results are any better than what we did before.

We need researchers working with us to think up good quality research into this matter.

dear Taiar,

Thank you for sharing. Your research is interesting but leaves us with many questions.

Did you tape from origin to insertion or visa-versa?

If this was not the case how did you tape... the muscle belly only, or the tendon?

What was your research question?

Which brand did you use?

How much stretch?

Which colour?

What had you expected to find?

I am very convincedKT tape works in mechanical and sensory ways.

Thank you. will be patient and wait :)

Sorry but this may be anecdotal but have used kinseiology taping with certain patients from a podiatroc musculoskeletal background - works great for plantar fasciopathy, achilles tendinopathy (dependent on stage of condition), ankle sprains (acute/chronic)to name but a few. Its true that the evidence is scarse but Helene Langevin has been doing a lot of interesting fascial research with dry needling/acupuncture which i feel may hold some ground from skin sensory receptor point of view - very difficult from clinical research to prove but needless to say interesting.

Dear Derek, thank you for your contribution to this discussion.

The vision of Levigine regarding the role of fascia in musculoskeletal plasticity by acupuncture could help us understanding the response to the fascial stretch of the Kinesio-Tape.

Best regards; )

From personal experıence Kınesıotapıng ıs very useful for some condıtıons such as Patello-femoral maltrackıng or tennıs/golfers elbow. It certaınly helps wıth paın relıef and qualıty of lıfe. http://www.kinesiotaping.no/omoss/forskning/frontpage/aytar_2011.pdf

Having said that it is more often only a temporary solution.

Best current evidence or anecdotal experience with kinesiotape? – Maybe the attached SR can qualify this topic.

We have conducted 2 studies on the effects of KT on the knee in dancers and runners. Their results both show that KT did not change joint kinematics or joint forces when compared with no tape. Both these papers have been accepted for publication but not published yet. We did show that mulligan taping was more effective in changing movement and joint forces. Our lab is now investigating the effects of KT on changes in EMG.

Hi Leo,

I am so looking forward to having a long chat with you and the other 'tape oriented' colleagues at Curtin.

We need to team up.

I have the clinicians persepctive and you might call me the expert, you and yours are the researchers.

Which application did you use? The old origin-insertion notion?

I hope not..... if this is the case you need to know what a growing number of professionals is doing....

Interested?

Let me know and we can talk some shop.

Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo´s last night taping, could influenced in their hamstring lesion, allowing him to play the 120 minutes of the Champions League Final?

Dear Gustavo...

I have used Kinesio with good results in clinical settings for bothe athletes or not. Recently, it was published a systematic review: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24856938 where the author do not the effectiveness os KT in musculoskeletal conditions. I see with caution these results because, they are poor methodological quality (some). So I state the use of KT for many conditions neurological, musculoskeletal and vascular conditions, but caution must be done on how method you're applying.

In response to Phil Page's comment above, I think we'd have to acknowledge that the concept of "muscle imbalance", despite the heroic efforts by the group at Washington University in St. Louis, remains as unproven as the use of kinesiotape directionally or to treat lymphedema. This concept of muscle imbalance fits within the traditional fixation in physical therapy on that particular connective tissue, but it ignores too many other variables, including the neurophysiological processes involved in the pain experience (per Patrick Wall: withdrawal, protection, resolution), and with respect to tape, the vast sensory array in the skin.

Esther's first comment in this thread addresses what I perceive as a large knowledge void when it comes to any intervention that we apply tactiley to our patients, including tape and manual techniques. and that is the role of the skin. I urge those reading to take a look at the recent review by Proske and Gandevia on the kinesthetic senses (2012). Some other relevant basic research has been done by Olausson's group on skin affterents. This is must read stuff for PTs, but few are even aware that the skin plays a major role in kinesthetic sense.

Also, like Esther, I use much less tape than I did when I first starting applying tape over 15 years ago to treat conditions like PFS. Like everything else in health care, the tendency is to maximize based on the marketing rather than minimize based on the science. I think we all know what drives that.

Hello,

I apologize for my lack of medical knowledge. I am a musician who had some hand problems preventing me from playing my instrument, and at some point I had occupational therapy for a sprained finger. My therapist prescribed Kinesio Tape, and it worked well; I continued using it after I finished the therapy sessions. However, after a few weeks, I felt that my finger was weak when I was removing it. I had asked the therapist if there was any time limitation for using it, and she said I could continue for as long as I felt I needed it. I was concerned that my finger will depend too much on it, and I stopped using the tape. Maybe I was too conservative.

Emanuela

The tape is a complement, you probably should have been given some exercises to.

Hi Emanuela,

In most cases, the tape is indeed complementary and used to assist the body. Using it for a too long a period of time can have the result that you start adapting. It sounds as if this has been the case. Normally we use this tape in conjunction with other therapy and I think you were completely right to stop using it. Other thing is that we know that contact dermatitis could become an issue if you use any tape brand for too long. Wishing you well.

Hello,

Thank you very much for your answers. Yes, I forgot to mention I also had ultrasound therapy and I was given exercises, which helped.

Paper from a Brazilian group: Current evidence does not support the use of Kinesio Taping in clinical practice: a systematic review. Available at: http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/1836-9553/PIIS1836955314000095.pdf .

Hi Caio,

Thanks for sharing. I have already read the review and completely do not agree with the conclusions. Have therefor written a letter to the editor and I hope this is published soon.

Nothing like first-person experience to comment on such an issue. I did a lot of 'research' for my shoulder impingement and looked at a few youtube videos on 'how to'. Found one where the chiropractor gave good detailed info. for his patient whose shoulder had dislocated downwards and how k-tape would help pull it up. So, naturally he stuck the tape on the deltoid insertion first and then stretched it up and over scapula in front and back. I used the same technique - applied it on myself (not easy) - but found it simply moved my pain from the gleno-humeral area to the trapezius area. So, it is important to stretch the tape in an appropriate direction! It did give one a good snug feeling, though.

Principles for recovery of impaired tissue by trauma or overburden are simple, i.e. inflammation/ rest and active or passive mobilization from start. Kynesiotape supports these principles for more comfort. Exercises are of another kind supporting functional recovery applied in later stage (in time). In depth: adhesive material (or even touch) on the skin releases histamine which enhances blood flow by its reaction on threat; mechanical compression supports lymphatic drainage - nothing psychic' about it.

hi everyone...if you really want to read some in-depth comments on kinesio taping and the research behind it I suggest you go to http://www.bodyinmind.org/is-kinesio-taping-effective/ :)

Hi, I have used kinesiotaping in my patient with Patellofemoral pain syndrome and it helped her a lot. I believe kinesiotaping works by correcting the muscle imbalance and normalizing altered biomechanics. But it should be given in conjunction to exercises to be beneficial.

Kinesio taping in treatment and prevention of sports injuries: a meta-analysis of the evidence for its effectiveness.

Williams S1, Whatman C, Hume PA, Sheerin K.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124445

Ok I'm finding it difficult to stay quiet here.

I am very convinced that as an addition in many therapeutic interventions "therapeutic taping" works. BUT I have found no publications which I could genuinely say I had confidence with the research. There are a huge amount of variables which are almost always never considered fully.

I am happy to work with a few of the correspondents on establishing sensible measurements and focus on a specific area/group of patients.

An example is "back pain" intervention. What is the cause of the pain? Is it effective in Lumbar, Thoracic, Sacroiliac. If we simpy use back pain as our target, chances of successful measurement and intervention are minimal.

I'd love some feedback please

I have a randomised study about infants, it is submitted but not published yet, so I can´t say so much about it now.

We need good measurement tools and randomised studies before we can prove anything. For children with different diagnosis I can se that KT make difference in some stages. But I doubt that you can measure differences in healthy sportsmen.

Hallo Anna, I am so glad to hear that you have an article on its way.  Congratulations.

Hi Ronn, as Anna I have seen the effects of this taping in many patients of all ages, but especially children. Its effects on motor performance can be very impressive.

It would be great if we had some good measures. Am willing to 'assist' although my background is the clinic.

One of the variables you speak of is the tape itself. We know from 2 studies into mechanical properties (on 3 brands/4 colours = 12 tapes) that these all vary making this an extra issue that is never addressed.

Esther, I know you teach occasionally in the UK, maybe we can do something on one of your visits. I'm not even sure how to test the tape.

I've looked at stretch characteristics on glass plate, but mostly inconclusive. I think weight and thickness may be a better measurement, adding to stiffness.

The main area of my work would be on nociception, since clinically that's where I have loads of anecdotal work.

My visit UK frequency is rising, but most visits are in the south sorry :) I think it would be really interesting to meet. You will be fascinated by how we use and what the tape can do... all processed through the skin and nerves of course.... 

Just give me details of your courses, visits and who knows. My current lab work is on mammalian muscle stretch receptor potentials, so might have interesting discussions

My fellow researchers,

As a family physician I treat a lot of musculoskeletal origin painful patients. As Phil wrote in the beginning of this thread the evidence is not well established .In my practice  kinesio taping has some succsess in some patients.In order to prove its exact efficacy we can conduct a multicenter study .

What do you think?  

dear Yacov, That would be a great idea. My GP has a small clinic in Spain and she and the other allied health professionals in this clinic use it. I will ask her is she interested.

Tried it as an adjunct.

The tape will work to alter compensation patterns but, of course, it does nothing about correcting the underlying altered biomechanics.

Checking KT against the ABC™ protocol yielded no advantage but did delay adequate treatment.

Pertinent site:  MeningealRelease.com

Hi Jesse,  Am very interested in all the possible uses of kinesio tape also. Would like to know more about your experience and your research into KT and ABC.....

Am wondering if you compared ABC to ABC and KT or only compared them to each other. Most research in paediatric taping is now done by comparing regular treatment to regular treatment AND tape.....

AM VERY VERY INTERESTED, PLEASE SHARE YOUR RESEARCH

Had a look at the website and am willng to learn :)

kind regards Esther

Hi Esther,

Yes, KT and KT with ABC™.  My email is [email protected]  contact me there with a phone number.   I will teach you the ABC First Rib Maneuver™  (open to anyone one on the list, no charge).  Immediately your shoulders will not slump forward and I will teach you to do it with others so you can apply it and discover its reality.

There is a seminar/workshop in Weymouth, England Jan 24-25 as well as a few in Europe in the spring.   We did one in Amsterdam last fall.

Should you wish to set up a seminar we have a teacher Europe who can do so.

Email me...   Jesse

Natalie, we have had similar responses. In the clinic we have had to resort to 5 differing types of tape. It seems some people do develop sensitivity.

Most of the adhesives are similar and a few are obviously made by the same supplier, but marketed differently. I would definitely shop about. I would be unwilling to recommend one supplier/manufacturer though

dear Nathalie, you have probably developed a contact dermatitis. I would give the skin a rest for at least a month and then try another brand. The best brand for sensitive skins is Gentle from Nitto Denko....should be for sale in your country.

Thank you all for your participation!!!It was a very intersting debate with a rich exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences about the Kinesio-Taping!!!😀

Please feel free to contribute with your expertise with the audience. 

I would love to hear more from contributors, particularly on their views with regard using the tape to provide subtle and longer lasting guidance cues e.g in the paper by Dalibor Kiseljak for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis - and in adult situations. The other aspect being that of nociception

dear Ron, Sadly the poster you speak of is a case study of a 15yr old, with no reference to the Risser scale. KT is used in conjunction with Intensive Exercise program which, in scoliose specific exercise physiotherapy (SSEP) terminology means 20 or 24 hours a week. The role of tape is questionable as it is part of a program including 3 other methods. I do not agree with the  placement of tape either. It could actually be making the rotation of the corpora worse... Would welcome some sound research in this area...  You might find more people react to your comment on our closed FB page called Elastic Therapeutic Taping (for interested clinicians and researchers alike). If you would like to join go to....https://www.facebook.com/groups/506971916017399/  ask to join and the moderator (in this case moi)... will add you :)  kind regards 

Thank you Esther for sharing your page with us...do you know any Video platform on how to apply Kinesio Tape?Regards

dear Gustavo, there are many many video's available on YouTube.. it can show you the various ways of applying tape. I even posted one video there  :) on hygenic tape application. Sadly moest people using tape touch the glue and I do not agree.... certainly not in hospital settings or when treating patients that are very ill or weak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr-SbZX4060&t=2s  If you go to YouTube and add the words kinesio taping and a certain topic (arthritis knee, post surgery for example) you will find many techniques shown...https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kinesio+taping+post+surgery  A number of articles have been written on the subject

I think it's an adjunct rehabilitation method. But the effects seems to be overestimated in some instances. I believe that athletic taping could have more advantages especially when   the aim is to provide stability and to reduce pain when compared to kinesiotaping.

The answer is not really clear. Some studies showed it does not effect on pain relief and tendinitis. but in another one showed it's effect on neck and back pain relief. Additionally, results of some studies showed it's good for increasing ROM and flexibility. Finally, all of them suggested further studies are needed to confirm these findings.

But according to my experience (I applied KT for many an elite athlete and have a many lectured for KT). Effect of KT is mentally not physiology. And we can use for injuries prevention (cause increase ROM, flexibility and a little strength).

https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/abs/10.1123/jsr.2017-0047

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22274976

https://link.springer.com/article/10.2165/11594960-000000000-00000

http://www.jospt.org/doi/abs/10.2519/jospt.2008.2791?code=jospt-site

http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/22032998

Thank you Hamid for sharing with us your knowledge; )

dear everyone, am very happy to share with you that I have been pushing the tape companies for some answers regarding the suitability of the tape for the neonatal skin. This survey gives us information as to which brands do have tapes specifically made for sensitive skins. Will add it here.

Hi everyone (Hi Esther),

I may be late to join this discussion, but I would like to share with you our relatively recent study analysing local mechanical effects (in terms of lengthening and shortening of each of 1 mm3 tissue parts in the lower leg) of Kinesio Taping in muscle and connective tissue (please see the paper attached) in healthy subjects. We used MRI techniques to calculate those local length changes caused by the tape.

In short, this indicates that there will be much effects within the entire limb, despite only one muscle (tibias anterior) was targeted and most of those effects will not agree with the taping direction. Therefore, our conclusion was that Kinesio Taping is very effectual (there are appears to be people who doubt that and there are people who think it won't have effects in case there is no pathology), but the expected benefits should be a result of a much more complex mechanism than what is widely considered.

dear Can, Thank you for adding your study. I am aware of its existence, as a matter of fact this study is on a slide I present in courses at at conferences. :) Everyone needs to know this about this. As clinicians, we have been aware of the 'mechanical' and sensory (the local and the total) reactions to tape. is nice to see It studies showing us what is happening under the skin..Your studies is one of the ones showing us what is happening in the leg locally and at a distance. You were to first to prove that one of K.Kase's original hypothesis (skin lifting) was actually correct. regards Esther

Thanks Ester, Kinesio Taping is a very interesting topic to do research in and I am looking forward to do more in that direction.

Best regards,

Can

I use kinesio taping in my patients. The best results are obtained with patients with edema, bruises, soft tissue injuries using lymphatic technique. Patients themselves indicate improvement, pain reduction, increased range, faster absorption of hematomas.

dear Marta, Do you know any research showing that 'faster absorption of hematomas' is actually true. I only know that the effects can be visibly 'spectacular', giving the patient the idea that the healing is faster... but is this actually the case???? The internet is full of the most wonderful pictures (great placebo effect) which could actually be an optical illusion because of the Cornsweet effect) but no research has been conducted to my knowledge.

I do not remember exactly, but I know that I have read such research on this subject. Probably from this page https://kinesiotaping.com/research/published-research/

Hi Gusto

The role of kinesiotaping is very effective adjunct in treatment musculoskeletal conditions limited by pain.

It also has a good Role in prevention of injuries sports population

dear Marta, as you I have seen many articles and documents and blogs about the wonderful even spectacular effects of taping on haematomas... so far no real research into the positive effects of tape on healing I am afraid. This change is colour actually means that the blood could have been moved to another part of the muscle, no more.

I think sometimes we forget with this type of treatment that we as therapists are not consistent in application - it is not an "exact science". However, in a very high proportion of cases, as an adjunct therapy I have had success with pain relief, scoliosis correction, muscle activation, reduction in edema, bruising and postural improvement. It is a valuable tool but used mainly as an adjunct therapy

Changes in sheathing of the elastic fibers in and over cotton, the control of the porosity of the weave and the methods of application (i.e. fanning vs columnar) have expanded the clinical applications, the intra and intertester reliability and the research potential of this amazing "tool in our toolbox".

Dennis Shavelson's taping worked stellarly for me.

the use of kineso tape is interesting for its ability to drain inflamed areas, on the other hand it promotes muscle work during exercise as well as recovery if it has been damaged. Personally I have had good experiences with its use even though I only use it as a complement to manual work or other types of techniques.

I think... I believe... the use o that may... to believe or not! The only useful concept should come from a comparison among patients or sportmen/women with and without... on the contrary, we will be always on the dark side.