What is the effect and mechanism of kinesiology tape on muscle activity?

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of kinesiology tape, anesthesia, and kinesiology tape along with anesthesia, on motor neuron excitability.

Participants: Participants included 20 healthy men aged 20-35 years, who were examined over 5 sessions.

Intervention: The five experimental sessions included: control without applying the kinesiology tape or Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics (EMLA); treatment only with EMLA; only kinesiology tape application; only sham tape application; and treatment with kinesiology tape and EMLA.

Main outcome measures: The H-reflex recruitment curve of the soleus and lateral gastrocnemius was recorded by a blinded assessor in the 5 separate sessions randomly assigned with 48 h washout periods. The major H-reflex parameters include: the H_max/M_max ratio, the H-reflex threshold stimulation intensity (H_th), the intensity of maximum H-reflex (Intensity_Hmax), the H-reflex ascending slope (H_slp), and the H-reflex ascending slope fixed into the first three points (first H_slp).

Results: The H-reflex parameters (H slope, first H_slp, H_th, and Intensity_Hmax) were facilitated by application of the kinesiology tape with and without EMLA; however, EMLA inhibited the H-reflex parameters (H_max/M_max ratio, H_slp, first H_slp, and H_th) in both the soleus and lateral gastrocnemius. The sham tape did not alter the H-reflex recruitment curve parameters. The statistical model revealed a significant difference between the kinesiology tape and the sham tape and control sessions, between kinesiology tape-EMLA and EMLA, and between kinesiology tape-EMLA and control session.

Conclusions: Results suggest that the kinesiology tape facilitates the muscle activity and the underlying mechanism on the gastrosoleus motor neuron pool involves the cutaneous receptors.

Keywords: Gastrosoleus; H-reflex recruitment curve; Kinesiology tape.