This time, I'd like to talk about Kinesio taping which might be useful.
I have written about Kinesio taping in another article before, which presented a study that showed that Kinesio taping may have no effect on athletic performance.
I don't know if it is still in vogue, but this taping method has a deep-seated and trusted influence in the sports industry and other fields, and there are some things that sports-related medical professionals need to be able to do.
Since it may not affect athletic performance as mentioned earlier, its usefulness may be limited when it comes to clinical practice.Here are the results of a study that may be useful when clinical practice does not mean dealing with injured people.
The study
The study aimed to investigate the immediate and short-term effects of Kinesio Tape (KT) on balance, adapted to the ankles of healthy individuals.
A total of 24 healthy men (mean age 31.8 years, range 22-40 years) were randomized into a kinesio taping or placebo group.
The kinesio taping group was given therapeutic kinesio taping that could provide ankle stability.
The control group was given an application that was similar but not as effective.
Balance tests were performed before application, immediately after application, and 24 hours after application.
Pre-, post-, mid-lateral, and overall stability indices (APSI, MLSI, and OSI, respectively) were measured and expressed as relative treatment effect (RTE).
There was no statistically significant interaction between intervention and time for all stability measures.
The main effect was assessed and the effect over time showed significant differences in terms of RTE and mean rank at all time points for MLSI and OSI.
Kinesio taping of the ankle had an immediate positive effect.
The main effect for the group showed a significant difference in RTE levels between the intervention groups for all indices.
Based on rank averages, the kinesio taping group had better stability than the sham placebo on all indices.
How to apply the taping
Use 5 cm wide taping.
The ankle joint should be fixed at 90 degrees when taping.
Star-up
Circular
Heel lock
These methods of application seem to have produced the results that were tested.
Discussion
The reasons why the quality of the results could not be high in this study are
Blinding was difficult.
Bias due to the fact that it was applied is unavoidable.
The results of this study were not of high quality because of the following reasons.
There was another study that looked at improving balance by taping women's posture, and that study also found that taping was helpful in stabilizing posture.
If you don't mind if it's a placebo, or if you don't care because the results are for healthy people and not for injured people, you can take the results of this study into consideration and try taping to improve your standing balance on a regular basis.
It is important to note that the results of this study do not show an immediate effect, i.e. an improvement in standing balance after 24 hours.
Therefore, people who can't wear taping for more than two days or people whose skin gets irritated by taping can't get this benefit.
I put it on, and it's great! If you feel the effect immediately, you cannot deny the fact that the effect is due to bias, and the provider needs to be careful.
Gök H, Örücü Atar M, Ateş C, Sonel Tur B. Does kinesiotaping affect standing balance in healthy individuals? A pilot, double-blind, randomized- controlled study. controlled study. Turk J Phys Med Rehabil. 2019;65(4):327-334. published 22 Oct 2019. doi:10.5606/tftrd.2019.3888
Conclusion
The taping method is simple, and the results can be reproduced with a procedure that anyone can follow.Although it is inevitable to feel the effect due to bias, how about trying it if you don't mind?
In this study, the results were based on "standing balance" alone, so we should be careful not to over-interpret the results, since we cannot say that the results have an effect on exercise performance.
