Could forearm Kinesio Taping improve strength, force sense, and pain in baseball pitchers with medial epicondylitis?

OBJECTIVE: To determine short-term effects of applied forearm Kinesio Taping (KT) on pain, wrist flexor strength, and force sense for baseball players with medial epicondylitis (ME). DESIGN: Case-control repeated measures study. SETTING: Clinical sports medicine research laboratory in a medical university. PARTICIPANTS: A group of 10 baseball players with ME (ME group) and another group of 17 healthy collegiate athletes (healthy group). INTERVENTION: Three taping conditions were applied in both groups: (1) no taping applied, (2) placebo taping applied (PT), and (3) KT applied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Three variables were measured including maximal wrist flexor strength, related/absolute force sense errors, and pain scale (pressure pain and pain tolerance) under 3 taping conditions. RESULTS: No significant relationship was found either in maximal wrist flexor strength or in related force sense errors between the 2 groups with taping applied, except absolute force sense errors (P = 0.037). Both the healthy group and the ME group in absolute force sense measurement significantly decreased the errors in PT and KT conditions. Also, the tolerance of pressure pain also improved in both the healthy group and the ME group when performing PT and KT conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Forearm KT may enhance absolute force sense and improve pain condition for both healthy athletes and athletes suffering from ME when placebo and KT applied. However, KT did not result in significant changes in maximal wrist flexor strength for either group.

Immediate effect of forearm Kinesio taping on maximal grip strength and force sense in healthy collegiate athletes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the immediate effects of applied forearm Kinesio taping on maximal grip strength and force sense of healthy collegiate athletes. DESIGN: Single group, repeated measures study. SETTING: Clinical sports medicine laboratory at a university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-one healthy collegiate athletes voluntarily participated in this study. All subjects were male (average height: 181.24 ± 7.60 cm; average body weight: 72.86 ± 7.03 kg; average age: 20.86 ± 2.59 years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: First, maximal grip strength of the dominant hand was assessed by hand-held dynamometer. Then, 50% of maximal grip strength was established as the reference value of force sense. Absolute and related force sense errors and maximal grip strength were measured under three conditions: (1) without taping; (2) with placebo taping; and (3) with Kinesio taping. RESULTS: Results revealed no significant differences in maximal grip strength between the three conditions (p = 0.936). Both related and absolute force sense errors in grip strength measurements significantly increased the accuracy of the results under the three conditions (related force sense errors: p < 0.05; absolute force sense errors: p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Forearm Kinesio taping may enhance either related or absolute force sense in healthy collegiate athletes. However, Kinesio taping did not result in changes in maximal grip strength in healthy subjects.