Abstract
Athletes and rehabilitation specialists have used Kinesio tape (KT) to help alleviate pain symptoms. Currently, no clear mechanism exists as to why pain is relieved with the use of KT and whether the pain relieving effect is simply a placebo effect. Additionally, the most effective taping parameters (tension of tape) for pain reduction remain unknown. We used quantitative sensory testing to address these key gaps in the KT and pain literature. Using a repeated-measures laboratory design, we examined whether KT applied at different tensions reduces experimentally-induced pain compared to a no tape condition and KT with minimal tension. Heat pain thresholds (HPT’s), pressure pain thresholds (PPT’s), and pressure pain suprathreshold (PPS: 125% of PPT) tests were administered to the forearm prior to and during KT and no tape conditions. Tape was applied to the ventral forearm at 25% of max tension, 75% of max tension, and no tension (placebo). Repeated measures ANOVA’s evaluated the pain outcomes between conditions and across time. KT had no significant effect on PPT’s and HPT’s (p’s >0.05). The ANOVA on PPS revealed that KT applied at 25% of tension significantly reduced pain ratings from the pretest (M = 34.4, SE = 5.5) to post-test 1 (M = 30.3, SE = 4.7) and post-test 2 (M = 30.4, SE = 4.7). No other conditions significantly reduced suprathreshold pressure pain. However, pain ratings at posttest-1 during the no-tape condition (M = 36.4, SE = 5.3) were significantly greater than pain ratings during post-test 1 and post-test 2 of all three tape conditions. In conclusion, the current study revealed that KT applied at low tension is the optimal tension to reduce pressure-evoked muscle pain. Additionally, the results suggested that KT applied at low, high, or no tension may acutely prevent increased muscle sensitivity with repeated pressure stimulation.
Highlights
IntroductionEffect of Kinesio tape tensions on thermal and muscle pain joint function
The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs)’s indicated that all of the pretest quantitative sensory testing (QST) tests had good to excellent reliability across sessions: non-taped arm Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) = 0.85, taped arm PPT = 0.83, non-taped arm heat pain thresholds (HPT) = 0.94, taped arm HPT = 0.98, non-taped arm pain suprathreshold (PPS) = 0.85, taped arm PPS = 0.83
The primary finding of this study was that Kinesio tape (KT) applied at 25% of max tension reduced pressure-evoked muscle pain, whereas KT applied with minimal tension and 75% tension produced no pain relieving effects
Summary
Effect of Kinesio tape tensions on thermal and muscle pain joint function. Kase et al reports that the tension of the tape lifts the skin to create skin convolutions that aid in blood circulation and lymphatic drainage leading to improved muscle function and a reduction in pain [2]. With the proper application and placement on the body, manufacturers claim Kinesio tape can successfully treat pain in the joints, shoulder, elbow, wrist, back, hips, knee, Achilles tendon, ankle, heel bone, and strained/sore muscles, and headaches [2]. The actual evidence supporting Kase et al.’s claims are both limited and mixed
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