Kinesio Tape

Hi

Desperately trying to come up with a decent research question for my level 5 lit search/research proposal - and no doubt panicking as much as those who have gone before me.

I have a background in sports therapy and consider MSK a strong point but know that most areas have been researched to within an inch of their lives. I'm increasingly settling on the use of Kinesio Tape in rehab but my lit search hasn't turned up much - and even less peer reviewed evidence.

My query is whether Kinesio Tape is widely used in physiotherapy outside the traditional sports arena and whether anyone knows of any research/unpublished studies that might be worth reviewing.

Cheers

Digger

dear Digger,

the answer is yes, Kinesio Tape (and its "colleagues" K-taping, Kinesiology Tape, Cure Tape) are being used and more evidence is building up. Am researching it myself at the moment. A number of studies have been published in the Polish Journal of Physiotherapy. Case studies and case series are all out there. Problem is they are not always in the english language. A lot has been published in Italian.

When searching I would suggest you use the words Kinesio taping, Kinesiology taping, CureTape, Medical Taping Concept, vendaje neuromusculore, vendaje neuromuscular and journals to find more. It is true, there is not much peer reviewed evidence out there yet, but a lot is happening at the moment. We know that studies in Japan and Korea have been published in those languages. We hope they will be translated shortly.

I can assure you that many collegues are not only looking into the various elastic tapes and their possibilites but using it in all fields of our profession. Try looking up what is being done with elastic tape and lymph at the moment.:)
I have published a case study and 7 month follow-up on the effects of elastic taping on excessive drooling in the case of a 4 year old girl with Rett syndrome. Will share that on this forum shortly.

good luck with your search....

Esther

It's become very popular in switzerland and there are various courses on offer. Again, not in English I'm afraid. One person who offers a course in "Fazilitierendes FunktionellesTaping" which follows on from his "myofasziale release" and postural dysfunction courses is Dr. Eugen Rasev, (the s has a little thing on top) originally from Prag, now in Germany. Not sure whether you will find anything on internet about him. He uses taping for a wide number of normal physio postural caused pain conditions. My info says that Kinesio Taping was developed in Asia already 30 years ago and it is used here in Switzerland by "Naturärzte" who practice traditional chinese medicine methods. Again, I have nothing in English for you :(. There must be stuff out there somewhere to read!

Thanks very much, really useful info from you both for me to follow up. I've found some papers on posterior patella pain/patella disclocation which I'm thinking of using. As you rightly say, not much english language stuff found but I feel that makes it all the more worth investigating.

Thanks again.

Rich

dear Judith,

Can you help me please....?¿
I am still trying to get hold of as much information as possible and I do not have much German and/or French information at all. There must have been a lot published by now. Can you help me to any articles or links in either French or German???

dear Digger,
glad to be of assistance, if you ever have any specific questions, I will be happy to react.

Esther

Hi Digger, would be really interested to hear how you got on...

Hi all, I just wonder how effective of K-tape compare to traditional sports taping. Those sport tape (white tape) is more tough and is very good in limiting joint ROM, say prevent ankle sprain. But K-tape, well I know very little about it, seems not as tough as the white one. Is K-tape providing extra proprioception to skin/joints instead of providing actual rigidity? By the way, if K-tape is good, I will try to learn it from courses