Kinesiology tape has enjoyed a meteoric rise in recent years. Many of the world’s top athletes have been seen wearing it, and it has become commonplace in most physical therapy and chiropractic clinics.

Kinesio tape in action at the 2014 CrossFit Games

As a result, a few myths about taping have emerged. I am going to put the record straight on the most common ones. But before I do, let me make clear my bias – I am a physical therapist and a tape fan. In fact, I like the stuff so much I bought shares in a tape company (RockTape) and now head up their professional education program in the UK and Europe.

My experience of sticking tape on thousands of patients, running hundreds of taping workshops for health professionals, and taping myself whenever I hurt, is that tape works. It does cool and surprising stuff to reduce pain and improve movement. But I also hear a whole load of nonsense, misinformation, and misconceptions about kinesiology tape and what it does.

Here are four most commons myths I hear, along with reasoning to the contrary.

There Is No Evidence for Kinesiology Taping

This myth comes from members of the public and health professional alike. I’m not going try to tell you there is an avalanche of high-quality evidence that forms an irrefutable case. That isn’t true of anything I do as a therapist, except perhaps suggesting people get up and move around a bit more.

“My experience of sticking tape on thousands of patients, running hundreds of taping workshops for health professionals, and taping myself whenever I hurt, is that tape works.”

But there is a surprisingly large body of academic work studying tape. Although the research often isn’t as high quality as it might be and the results are sometimes conflicting, the overall theme is encouraging and positive. The most recent systematic review here found tape to be effective in reducing symptoms of pain that lasts for more than four weeks when used combined with exercise.

Several randomly controlled trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of tape to reduce pain and improve function in a variety of conditions. This study showed that tape and exercise are as effective as an injection and exercise in managing patients with sub-acromial impingement of the shoulder. Also for impinged shoulders, this paper shows tape combined with exercise results in superior outcomes in pain, movement, and function than placebo taping and exercise.

There are lots more studies. Plug “kinesio tape” or “kinesiology tape” into Pubmed or Google Scholar and take a look. You might be surprised. Sure, it’s not all one-way traffic. There are studies such as this one suggesting tape has little or no effect. However, like most of the studies with negative findings, they are testing tape on uninjured, unfatigued, and uncompromised subjects, so it’s no great surprise tape doesn’t do much in these cases.

So, more high quality evidence is needed. But the statement “there is no evidence for taping” is scientifically refutable. Let’s all please stop saying it.

Kinesiology Tape Is Just a Placebo

It just ain’t. An element of how it works may be down to placebo effects, just like any treatment. But several studies like this and this have all compared a therapeutic kinesiology tape application with a placebo tape (either a different tape like micropore or a kinesiology tape put on with no stretch). All these studies demonstrate the effects of kinesiology tape cannot be replicated by placebo taping.

“An element of how it works may be down to placebo effects, just like any treatment.”

However, there are always flies in the ointment, like this study that found the placebo taping they used improved jump height just as much as the “therapeutic” taping. Perhaps this is just a good reminder that we have much to learn about how tape works, and how we can best use it alter variables like pain, mobility, and endurance.

The Color Makes a Difference

It doesn’t, but then it also kind of does. The myth I hear most is that pink tape will warm stuff up and blue tape will cool things down. This goes back to the history of tape being developed in Asia and picking up influence from color therapy. The theory is lighter colors reflect more heat while dark colors absorb more, thus altering tissue temperature under the tape.

There are a couple of problems with that. Any change in temperature due to this mechanism would be infinitesimally small. And through homeostasis, the body is constantly adjusting blood flow to keep the proper temperature of our tissue regardless of environmental conditions. So, I respectfully suggest if you want to cool something down, try an ice pack. If you want to warm something up, try a heat pad or nice hot bath. But don’t sweat it over tape color.

It Is Difficult to Apply and You Need Lots of Training

It isn’t and you don’t. It doesn’t take years of training or detailed knowledge of anatomy to work out a safe and effective taping. There is a bit of knack to handling the tape and getting it securely stuck and wrinkle free, so you might want to practice a couple of times before you stick it for real. There are myriad You Tube videos (find mine here) that show you how to tape for most common injuries. A few tips:

• Keep it simple. Less is more.
• Stretch the tissue not the tape.
• Rub the tape all over to ensure a good bond between skin and tape.

If you have a problem more complex than a bit of pain, tightness, or stiffness, seeing a good therapist with taping experience is probably time and money well spent.

“It is not magic and it is not a replacement for rehab and sensible injury management. If you’ve got a niggle, grab a roll, and give it a go.”

Conclusion

Kinesiology tape is a safe, effective, low-risk way to give your body a nudge in the right direction toward less pain and better function. It is not magic and it is not a replacement for rehab and sensible injury management. But if you’ve got a trouble spot, grab a roll, and give it a go.

You can read all the articles and research papers you like, but the best way to understand what this stuff does is to feel it do its thing.

References:

1. Lim, ECW et al., “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” Br J Sports Med doi:10.1136/bjsports-2014-094151

2. Suba??, V. et al., “Comparison of efficacy of kinesiological taping and subacromial injection therapy in subacromial impingement syndrome” Clinical Rheumatology November 2014

3. Poon, KY et al., “Kinesiology tape does not facilitate muscle performance: A deceptive controlled trial.” Manual Therapy Journal. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.math.2014.07.013

4. Anandkumar, S. et al., “Efficacy of kinesio taping on isokinetic quadriceps torque in knee osteoarthritis: a double blinded randomized controlled study.” Physiother Theory Pract. 2014 Aug;30(6):375-83. doi: 10.3109/09593985.2014.896963. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

5. Tamburella, F., et al., “Somatosensory inputs by application of KinesioTaping: effects on spasticity, balance, and gait in chronic spinal cord injury.” Physiother Theory Pract. 2014 Aug;30(6):375-83. doi: 10.3109/09593985.2014.896963. Epub 2014 Mar 11.

6. Mostert-Wentzel, K., et al., “Effect of kinesio taping on explosive muscle power of gluteus maximus of male athletes.” South African Sports Medicine Association 09/2012; 24:75-80. DOI: 10.7196/sajsm.261

Photo 1 courtesy of CrossFit, Inc. 

Photo 2 courtesy of Rocktape UK.

Photo 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

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I found myself asking the same question, so I recently took a continuing education course about kinesio taping methods and how they could be incorporated into my daily practice. After taking the class, I had a feeling something wasn’t right, so I took it upon myself to do some in-depth research.

Kinesio Tape Research Is Flawed

The research on kinesio tape is completely flawed, and trying to determine its efficacy can make your head spin. I did a basic search for the effects of taping on various injuries on Pub Med and most of the results suggested the positive findings can be attributed to placebo effect, with no true increase in strength.

The companies that sell kinesio tape have gone to great lengths to do their own research and “prove” how this stuff really works. I don’t know about you, but when I hear of companies performing their own research, I’m a bit skeptical due to the obvious bias.

What is Your Body Saying?

Advocates of kinesio tape will say they are doing good work and providing people in pain with some relief. That doesn’t work for me. They don’t get a free pass for “trying” to do well. What they are doing is potentially disastrous.

If your coach or trainer is taping you up to get through a WOD or training session, they are doing you and your injury a huge disservice. However, trainers get a pass from me in this situation, as they don’t have as much training and may not understand the underlying causes of musculoskeletal dysfunction.

So here’s where I am going to be critical. If you go to a doctor and his or her first step to fixing your injury is to apply kinesio tape, I have a big problem with that.

“Contrary to popular belief, pain is not weakness leaving the body. It’s your body telling you something is going wrong and you better listen up.”

Let’s say you have been dealing with an injury for a while now that has continued to get worse. The pain is your body’s warning system telling you something bad is going on and you should stop doing whatever you are doing. Contrary to popular belief, pain is not weakness leaving the body. It’s your body telling you something is going wrong and you better listen up.

Kinesio tape does a pretty good job at reducing the symptom (pain). The problem is, it does nothing to improve the function. Any treatment that only focuses on a symptom and not function can be dangerous.

Kinesio Tape Masks Pain Signals

Maybe you have been dealing with low back pain from time to time, which seems to be getting a little worse each day. What if the back pain is actually caused by something more serious, such as a disc injury? The pain or tightness you’re feeling may be your body’s protective mechanism trying to keep you from beating the disc up any more.

“In any injury treatment, the goal should always be to improve tissue quality and function.”

If you or your practitioner decides to apply kinesio tape to the muscles of the low back, the pain and tension will subside. But the disc problem is still there, and now it’s even more exposed. Those muscles will no longer tighten up to protect the injury, as the tape is letting them relax.

Now you don’t have the pain or tightness telling you to stop, so you get back to training. The disc injury is exposed to even greater forces, which could cause a minor symptom to develop into a full-blown problem. Once the disc goes, you will never be the same again. The same idea applies to areas that have partial tears, weakness, or damage.

What Is Tape Good For?

Kinesio tape could be used to alleviate some of the pain after a grueling workout or difficult event. It can be used to help reduce some inflammation and improve blood flow to the area.

As stated in my previous article, the majority of injuries are due to tissue dysfunction. The tape will do nothing to actually improve the tissue, but will encourage healing once the dysfunction is fixed.

Who Should Use It?

• If there is a lot at stake for an elite athlete, they must weigh the risk/reward of using kinesio tape to deal with pain.
• It may allow them to participate, but it does nothing to improve the tissue function.
• Always proceed with caution and listen to your body when you feel pain.

Who Shouldn’t Be Using It?

• People who are injured and trying to get back out there to train or participate should not use kinesio tape.
• As much as we hate pain, it serves as a kick in the butt to let us know to back off a bit.
• Simply ignoring discomfort could aggravate the issue to a point where you can’t do anything.

Let’s Actually Fix the Injury

The best soft tissue doctors in the world are trained in the Integrative Diagnosis system, which focuses on accurately diagnosing the injury and applying the correct treatment with the goal of improving overall function.

In any injury treatment, the goal should always be to improve tissue quality and function. Anything that deviates from that goal will produce temporary and sometimes disastrous results.

If you find you have to cover yourself in tape just to get through an everyday workout, please take the time to consider the potential danger and ramifications of what you are actually doing: hiding the pain.

More like this:

• Get the Diagnosis Right: It’s Not Tendonitis, It’s Tendonosis
• Kinesio Tape: What Is It? and What’s the Hype
• Kinesio Taping for Performance: How It Really Works
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photography.

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Here’s a little back story on Kinesio tape. In Japan, Dr. Kenzo Kase first developed the Kinesio taping method in 1979. He is a chiropractor as well as a licensed acupuncturist and moxibustion therapist. Dr. Kase realized that manual therapy (i.e. massage therapy, chiropractic care, and physical therapy) was extremely effective for treatment of different ailments, but often the effects were temporary. He wanted something for his clients to use between appointment sessions to increase efficacy of manual therapy for lasting results. The Kinesio taping method was introduced to the United States in 1995, and then Europe in 1996. So it may surprise you to know that the Kinesio taping method and Kinesio Tex tape have been around for over a decade.

Many people often wonder what does Kinesio tape do and what ailments does it cover? It may help to know what Kinesio Tex tape is. Kinesio Tex tape is made of 100% elastic fibers that are latex free. You may notice a wave-like pattern, which is purposely put on the tape to mimic fingerprints and allows the tape to breathe. The tape itself only stretches on the longitudinal axis. Kinesio tape, if properly applied, can be used for virtually anything from chronic pain to menstrual cramps. For our purposes, I will specifically talk about athletes and tape usage.

Kinesio tape can be a huge asset for athletes. Kinesio tape can be applied in the middle of workouts or events in the case of sudden injury. The Kinesio tape is extremely strong and can be applied with different tension strengths. Many therapists will use different tension strengths and techniques to allow the muscles and ligaments to have “help” when injury occurs. The tape essentially stabilizes an area, for example the shoulder, to prevent any further damage.

The great thing about the Kinesio tape is that it still allows for range of motion, just not so much that you are likely to injure yourself further. In most cases, if you are in the middle of an event, the tension strength of the kinesio tape will be stronger for stabilization purposes. Now, understand that if you are in the middle of an event, Kinesio tape is just a Band-Aid. The tape will allow you to continue the event, but you must seek medical attention after your event is completed.

For Rehab

Another important aspect of Kinesio tape for athletes is rehabilitation. Many times athletes experience that after a competitive event their body is exhausted or broken, or it may be that a non-competitive athlete has overtrained, but in either case rehab is needed. Manual manipulation is important to rehabilitation. Using Kinesio tape after a manual manipulation session can increase efficacy of your treatment more so than without Kinesio tape. The tape can help open up fascial tissue to make manual manipulation easier. It helps athletes after manual manipulation in that it gives a continuous amount of stabilization to the affected area and gives muscles and ligaments a chance to rebuild and restore by taking the pressure off of those areas that have been worked on manually.

For Alignment

The Kinesio taping method also helps with alignment. If you have a tendency to slouch or have an area of the body that is not properly aligned Kinesio tape can bring the body back into alignment and help the athlete sense how this feels in the body. Having correct alignment can decrease pain and help the joints recover from activities.

For Pain

Kinesio tape also decreases pain in certain areas of the body that may be bothersome. Most athletes tend to have lower back pain. After manual manipulation, Kinesio tape can be placed on the affected area (using a different method or style of taping depending on the area) to decrease pain and discomfort. If there is bruising or swelling, there is a taping method that helps drain fluids into the lymphatic ducts to decrease swelling and help rid the body of bruising.

For Competition

One more area that may interest athletes is that Kinesio tape can be used before a sporting event. Most athletes tend to know if they have rolling ankles or patellar tracking issues, just to name a few ailments that I routinely hear in my office. Kinesio tape can be put on the affected area to prevent injuries if the athlete plans to do an event. Using Kinesio tape before an event can save the athlete from future surgeries or ailments after the event itself.

With Kinesio tape it is important to know that you should always go to someone who has been trained to tape through an approved CKTI (Certified Kinesio Tape Instructor), and has a background in kinesiology, anatomy, and physiology. Kinesio tape may look simple, but there are several different combination tapes and tension strengths that a person who has been trained will know how to do and do it effectively. Taping yourself is not an easy task, and even YouTube videos are not effective at teaching the methodology behind Kinesio taping. It is worth going to someone who can effectively tape you, and the longevity of the tape can be up to five days if you go to someone who has been trained in the kinesio taping method by a CKTI.

Your body is important to your athletic career so take care of it by going to professionals such as massage therapists, physical therapists, and chiropractors. Look for people in these profesions who have continuing education credits in the kinesio taping method by an approved CKTI. Trust me you will be glad you did.

Photo 1 courtesy of Airman 1st Class Alystria Maurer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

Photos 2 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

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