The clinical efficacy of kinesio tape for shoulder pain (2008)

Study Design
Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, clinical trial using a repeatedmeasures 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 cufftendonitis/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 range 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° ??23.2°; 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.