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
One article on PainSci cites Lim 2015: The Dubious Science of Kinesiology Tape
original abstract †Abstracts here may not perfectly match originals, for a variety of technical and practical reasons. Some abstacts are truncated for my purposes here, if they are particularly long-winded and unhelpful. I occasionally add clarifying notes. And I make some minor corrections.
INTRODUCTION: In recent years, Kinesio tape has been used to support injured muscle and joints, and relieve pain. We compared the pain and disability in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain who were treated with Kinesio taping with those using minimal or other treatment approaches. METHODS: Searches of eight major electronic databases were conducted. Data for pain and disability scores were extracted. Meta-analyses (wherever possible) with either a fixed or random effect(s) model, standardised mean differences (SMDs) and tests of heterogeneity were performed. RESULTS: Seventeen clinical-controlled trials were identified and included in the meta-analyses. When compared to minimal intervention, Kinesio taping provided superior pain relief (pooled SMD=-0.36, 95% CI -0.64 to -0.09, p=0.009) but the pooled disability scores were not significantly different (pooled SMD=-0.41, 95% CI -0.83 to 0.01, p=0.05). No significant differences were found when comparing Kinesio taping to other treatment approaches for pain (pooled SMD=-0.44, 95% CI -1.69 to 0.82, p=0.49) and disability (pooled SMD=0.08, 95% CI -0.27 to 0.43, p=0.65). DISCUSSION: Kinesio taping is superior to minimal intervention for pain relief. Existing evidence does not establish the superiority of Kinesio taping to other treatment approaches to reduce pain and disability for individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain.
related content
- “Effect of kinesiology taping on pain in individuals with musculoskeletal injuries: systematic review and meta-analysis,” Montalvo et al, Phys Sportsmed, 2014.
- “Kinesio taping in treatment and prevention of sports injuries: a meta-analysis of the evidence for its effectiveness,” Williams et al, Sports Medicine, 2012.
- “A systematic review of the effectiveness of kinesio taping for musculoskeletal injury,” Mostafavifar et al, Phys Sportsmed, 2012.
This page is part of the PainScience BIBLIOGRAPHY, which contains plain language summaries of thousands of scientific papers & others sources. It’s like a highly specialized blog. A few highlights:
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