Influence of Kinesio Taping applied over biceps brachii on isokinetic elbow peak torque. A placebo controlled study in a population of young healthy subjects

Objectives To investigate the effect of Kinesio Taping (KT) applied over the biceps brachii on maximal isokinetic elbow torque. Design This study followed a single-blinded, placebo controlled, repeated measures design. Methods Isokinetic eccentric and concentric elbow peak torques were evaluated without taping (NT), with KT or placebo taping (PT) in 20 healthy participants. Furthermore, all the participants were required to perform a proprioceptive task of elbow joint position sense (JPS) in the same experimental conditions. Results A significant effect of taping condition was found for concentric elbow peak torque (p = 0.01). Post hoc analysis revealed a statistically significant concentric elbow peak torque improvement between NT and KT (p < 0.05) but not between NT and PT. As regards eccentric elbow peak torque, we found a significant effect of taping condition (p < 0.0001). Significant eccentric elbow peak torque differences were observed between NT and PT (p < 0.01) and between KT and PT (p < 0.001), while the increase observed from NT to KT conditions failed to reach significance at a post hoc analysis. Conclusions When applied over the biceps brachii, KT increases concentric elbow peak torque in a population of healthy participants, if compared with a PT