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Kinesio Tape first attracted the attention of the public at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when 50,000 rolls were donated to athletes. Photo: iStock

In the past ten years, a brightly colored minimalist product has been widely spread around the world, and it is often seen that the strip-shaped product adheres to the skin of runners, football players and others.

Kinesio Tape first caught the public’s attention at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when 50,000 rolls were donated to athletes. Many of them were happy to use it. Obviously they believed or hoped that such decoration might bring some benefits to their affected body parts) .

The Run Ireland website states: "Since the 1970s, kinesiology tape has been used to successfully treat athletes", but whether the success of the treatment can be attributed to the tape or placebo effect is controversial. However, people agree that Kinesio Tape is a latex-free, waterproof, hypoallergenic cotton fiber strip with medical grade acrylic adhesive, developed by Japanese chiropractor Dr. Kenzo Kase in the 1970s.

According to his website, this tape "relieves discomfort and promotes lymphatic drainage by lifting the skin microscopically. This lifting action creates curls in the skin, thereby increasing interstitial space, reducing inflammation, reducing pressure, and reducing blood and lymph fluid. More efficiently flow into and out of the target area."

The extent to which scientific evidence supports this claim can be inferred from an article in the International Business Times in 2012, in which Howard Koplowitz cited an article that “pointed out that the creator of Kinesio Tape Japanese inventor Kenzo Kase admitted that "there is no scientific evidence" "to support his claim".

Dr. Jennifer C Reneker, associate professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, analyzed 15 published studies and recently made a review that is more scientific than online citations. In the Journal of Sports Physiotherapy, Reneker and colleagues believe that the effectiveness of kinesiology tape on athletes’ performance capabilities: a systematic review.

They concluded: "There is a lack of convincing evidence to support the use of kinesimetry tape to improve athletic performance based on this review."

As Reneker and colleagues pointed out, since the advent of Kinesio Tape, "there have been many similarly developed dynamic elastic tapes, collectively referred to as kinesiology tapes."

Many people who buy KT tape may do so after reading the product online. How reliable are Internet statements about the validity of KT?

When plastic surgeons Bryan G Beutel and Dennis A Cardone analyzed the content of 31 websites, they found that 58% of the websites used anecdotal recommendations to promote their products. They wrote in the International Sports Physiotherapy Journal: “Website discusses KT It is mainly of poor quality and provides misleading and unbalanced information."

It may be that KT is valid, but is it wrong for those who claim that it is invalid to use it?

This possibility was raised in a controversy on the Journal of Physiotherapy page. In 2015, Guilherme Nunes and colleagues conducted a study of 36 athletes participating in seven different sports. The title of the study succinctly expressed their conclusion: Kinesio Taping does not reduce the swelling of athletes with acute lateral ankle sprains: a random test.

This caused a severe condemnation from Kim Stockheimer and colleagues of the International Kinesio Taping Association. They told the magazine: “This research does not meet the minimum standards for responsible scientific research.” They complained that Nunes’s team was not “included in Kinesio”. Anyone who is certified or has extensive training in Taping Method".

Stockheimer and colleagues further explained, “Using Kinesio Taping, the pressure will be reduced by the elevation of superficial skin, while blood and lymphatic circulation will be increased by the increase in the subcutaneous space.” Nunes and colleagues responded to this, “We I really want to refer to a published study to prove that this actually happened; however, we have not found such a study yet."

This is reminiscent of the observation of the late Christopher Hitchens, which although related to religion, may apply to KT: "What can be asserted without evidence can be rejected without evidence."

However, it is undeniable that the results of some studies indicate that KT has potentially beneficial effects and may be used as an auxiliary means for the treatment of certain diseases. For example, Turkish researchers wrote an article in the journal Archives of Obstetrics and Gynecology (2016) describing the effects of exercise and intramuscular taping on the abdominal recovery of women delivered by caesarean section: a randomized controlled trial. Their study of 24 women found that “[I] adding KT to abdominal exercises in a postpartum physical therapy program seems to have a greater benefit for abdominal recovery in women who have had a C-section compared to exercise alone.”

Similarly, a 2016 study entitled "Intramuscular ligation for chronic low back pain: a systematic review"-published in the Journal of Body and Exercise Therapy (2016)-concluded that although KT cannot Instead of traditional physical therapy or exercise, "[R]ather, KT may be most effective when used as adjuvant therapy, perhaps by improving range of motion, muscle endurance, and movement control."

The evidence for the claimed benefits of KT as an effective treatment for musculoskeletal problems appears to be challenged. However, KT may serve as a useful means to enhance other proven therapies.

Obviously, further research is needed.

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