Short-Term Effects of Kinesio Taping and Cross Taping Application in the Treatment of Latent Upper Trapezius Trigger Points: A Prospective, Single-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial

Tomasz Halski; Kuba Ptaszkowski; Lucyna Słupska; Małgorzata Paprocka-Borowicz; Robert Dymarek; Jakub Taradaj; Gabriela Bidzińska; Daniel Marczyński; Aleksandra Cynarska; Joanna Rosińczuk

doi:10.1155/2015/191925

Short-Term Effects of Kinesio Taping and Cross Taping Application in the Treatment of Latent Upper Trapezius Trigger Points: A Prospective, Single-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Trial

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015:2015:191925. doi: 10.1155/2015/191925. Epub 2015 Sep 29.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physiotherapy, Opole Medical School, Katowicka 68, 45-060 Opole, Poland.
² Department of Obstetrics, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland.
³ Department of Clinical Biomechanics and Physiotherapy in Motor System Disorders, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, Grunwaldzka 2, 50-355 Wroclaw, Poland.
⁴ Department of Nervous System Diseases, Faculty of Health Science, Wroclaw Medical University, K. Bartla 5, 51-618 Wroclaw, Poland.
⁵ Department of Physiotherapy Basics, Academy of Physical Education in Katowice, Mikolowska Street 72, Building B, 40-065 Katowice, Poland.

Abstract

Kinesio taping (KT) may be a new treatment in patients with myofascial trigger points (MTrPs). A new method available for taping practitioners is cross taping (CT). The main objective was to determine how CT, KT, and medical adhesive tape (sham group) affect the subjective assessment of resting bioelectrical activity and pain of the upper trapezius muscle (UT) in patients with MTrPs. 105 volunteers were recruited to participate. The primary outcome was resting bioelectrical activity of UT muscle as assessed by surface electromyography (sEMG) in each group and pain intensity on a visual analog scale (VAS). Assessments were collected before and after intervention and after the 24-hours follow-up. No significant differences were observed in bioelectrical activity of UT between pre-, post-, and follow-up results. In three groups patients had significantly lower pain VAS score after the intervention (CT-p < 0.001, KT-p < 0.001, and sham-p < 0.01). The Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA showed no significant differences in almost all measurements between groups. The application of all three types of tapes does not influence the resting bioelectrical activity of UT muscle and may not lead to a reduction in muscle tone in the case of MTrPs.