By: Emily Potter
Serena Williams, Lance Armstrong, and David Beckham all have something in common, besides the fact that they are professional athletes. Each of these famous athletes are all known to wear kinesiology tape; a flexible and sometimes colorful tape worn for its benefits in the athletes performance and recovery.
Kinesiology tape (KT tape) has been around for decades, however, it has become more increasingly popular in the last 10 years. It has been seen stretching and spiraling in interesting designs on athletes in the Olympics, professional sports, collegiate sports, and even in high school recreational sports.
With the increase of the use of KT tape, many wonder if this tape is actually beneficial to its user and ask where is the scientific evidence proving so.
KT tape is unique compared to other sport tapes that are used by athletes and their trainers. KT tape adheres to the skin and is applied with various degrees of stretch based on the desired outcome by the athlete. The tape is warmed before application to ensure proper adherence. If applied correctly, there will be a tension created on the skin, which promotes improved circulation and neurological feedback through sensory receptors in the skin.
"With improved circulation, KT tape can benefit anyone who suffers an injury and experiences swelling," Dr. Jessica Mutchler, associate professor of athletic training at Georgia Southern University, said. "Pain after injury is often associated with inflammation and the inflammatory process. If individuals can move quicker through this process, then the time spent experiencing inflammatory pain is minimized."
Reagan Ward, a member of the Georgia Southern University Dance Team, was an athlete who used KT tape and relied on it to help alleviate inflammatory pain after a severe ankle injury from dancing.
"I had a fully torn ligament in my ankle from dancing, but before my surgery, I used KT tape to help with the pain. The cool thing about the tape is that it relieved my pain from all my other muscles overcompensating for my fully torn ligament. It was also thin and flexible enough that I could still have full control and feeling of my ankle," Ward said. "KT tape was the only thing that help with my ankle pain before my surgery."
Ward's testimony of the tape is an example of why several other athletes are such fans of using it.
KT tape is also known to be a beneficial tool to add into an athlete's care when teaching them how to correctly use their muscles. Brandi Boston, assistant athletic trainer for men's basketball at Georgia Southern, has experience working with athletes and using KT tape for posture control.
"In my experience with athletes at Georgia Southern, I personally use KT tape for swelling and inflammation around bruised body parts, and use it for posture control," Boston said.
Using KT tape for posture control acts as a reminder to the user that feeling the tape on their muscles to activate them and use them properly.
"For example, a baseball player who is trying to keep the correct from and posture in his pitch can use KT on his shoulder and back as a reminder to use the correct muscles and activate them when taking that pitch," Boston said.
Although there seems to be several benefits of using KT tape, there is virtually no scientific evidence proving that the tape works. This is more than likely due to the fact that research the effects of KT tape is hard to conduct because it is always in collaboration with something else according to Boston.
"There is evidence to support improved circulation with KT tape, and this is also why it is contraindicated in individuals with cancer or blood clotting disorders," Mutchler said. "KT tape as a supportive tape or to hold a joint in place or “correct” a deviation is not supported."
So why do athletes still wear the tape if there is no proof of it actually working? Well the simple answer is that it looks cool and is trendy.
There is also concerns if the tape acts as a placebo. For many users and physicians, they feel that the tape acts in a placebo way. This meaning that the tape is doing nothing for the user, but instead the user is experiencing physical change due to psychological feedback. Boston an Mutchler both agree that any taping can be seen as a placebo, however, they both agree that they would never steer away an athlete who wants to wear tape because it can help with the confidence of that athlete without doing any physical harm. "The psychological aspect of using this tape should not be disregarded" Mutchler said.
Although the science behind KT tape is still muddy, there is still evidence provided by trainers and athletes that using KT tape methods can make a difference for the athlete, and it is not something to be thrown out.
KT tape is a beneficial tool, but the tape does not replace the need for rest, nutrition, strengthening, and mobility work., but when used in collaboration an athlete can feel more confident in their recovery and performance.