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Published on: November 17, 2023
The clinical efficacy of kinesio tape for shoulder pain: a randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial
Mark D Thelen1, James A Dauber, Paul D Stoneman
1Physical Therapy Service, Winn Army Community Hospital, Fort Stewart, GA, USA. mark.thelen@us.army.mil
Study Design:
Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial using a repeated-measures design.
Objectives:
To determine the short-term clinical efficacy of Kinesio Tape (KT) when applied to college students with shoulder pain, as compared to a sham tape application.
Background:
Tape is commonly used as an adjunct for treatment and prevention of musculoskeletal injuries. A majority of tape applications that are reported in the literature involve nonstretch tape. The KT method has gained significant popularity in recent years, but there is a paucity of evidence on its use.
Methods And Measures:
Forty-two subjects clinically diagnosed with rotator cuff tendonitis/impingement were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups: therapeutic KT group or sham KT group. Subjects wore the tape for 2 consecutive 3-day intervals. Self-reported pain and disability and pain-free active ranges of motion (ROM) were measured at multiple intervals to assess for differences between groups.
Results:
The therapeutic KT group showed immediate improvement in pain-free shoulder abduction (mean +/- SD increase, 16.9 degrees +/- 23.2 degrees ; P = .005) after tape application. No other differences between groups regarding ROM, pain, or disability scores at any time interval were found.
Conclusion:
KT may be of some assistance to clinicians in improving pain-free active ROM immediately after tape application for patients with shoulder pain. Utilization of KT for decreasing pain intensity or disability for young patients with suspected shoulder tendonitis/impingement is not supported.
Level Of Evidence:
Therapy, level 1b-.