Abstract
Abstract Introduction: Elastic bandages (EB), such as Kinesio taping, have been widely used in sports or daily life activities with the aim of preventing or reducing musculoskeletal injuries. It has been suggested that Kinesio Taping is capable of altering muscle activation through neurophysiological mechanisms, but the evidences about this are controversial. Objective: To verify the acute effect of EB on maximum voluntary isometric force (MVIF) and muscle activation of the middle deltoid muscle during muscle contraction. Method: Twenty-four healthy male (24 ± 4 years, 73.2 ± 13.9kg, 1.80 ± 0.10m) were randomly assigned to a group with elastic bandage activated at 100% (AEB n = 8); with tensionless elastic bandage (NEB n = 8), and the control group (CG n = 9). The volunteers were instructed to perform 5s of maximal isometric contraction at 90° of shoulder abduction while the MIVF and EMGrms records were registered. Results: One-way ANOVA was unable to identify significant difference (α = 0.05) in MIVF and EMGrms of the middle deltoid at 90° of shoulder abduction. Conclusion: The application of elastic bandage was not able to alter the production of maximal isometric voluntary contraction and activation of the middle deltoid muscle of healthy individuals and, therefore, its use is not justified for these purposes.
Highlights
Elastic bandages (EB), such as Kinesio taping, have been widely used in sports or daily life activities with the aim of preventing or reducing musculoskeletal injuries
Twenty-four healthy male (24 ± 4 years, 73.2 ± 13.9kg, 1.80 ± 0.10m) were randomly assigned to a group with elastic bandage activated at 100% (AEB n = 8); with tensionless elastic bandage (NEB n = 8), and the control group (CG n = 9)
Reliability of MVIC and EMGrms measurements was made through the ICC, typical error of measurement (TEM), and the Bland and Altman test
Summary
Elastic bandages (EB), such as Kinesio taping, have been widely used in sports or daily life activities with the aim of preventing or reducing musculoskeletal injuries. It has been suggested that Kinesio Taping is capable of altering muscle activation through neurophysiological mechanisms, but the evidences about this are controversial. Kinesio taping (KT) is a non-invasive therapeutic technique that uses a tape, Elastic Bandage (EB), developed in Japan by the Japanese chiropractor Kenzo Kase in 1973 to imitate the qualities of human skin with the same thickness of the dermis. The technique has been indicated for reducing edema, improving stability and proprioception while performing movements, reducing pain intensity, joining realignment and changing recruitment activity patterns of treated muscles, and improving sports performance in sports injury rehabilitation and prevention protocols [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. From 2017 onwards, it is possible to find numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyzes of the KT effects on several variables, and the overwhelming majority of these does not support the claims of its creator [12,13,14,15]
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