Short-Term Effect of Different Taping Methods on Local Skin Temperature in Healthy Adults

Abstract

Background: There were limited studies on the effect of skin temperature and local blood flow using kinesio tape (KT) adhered to the skin in different taping methods. This study aimed to determine the short-term effect of KT and athletic tape (AT) on skin temperature in the lower back and explore the possible effect of different taping methods (Y-strip and fan-strip taping) on local microcirculation.

Materials and methods: Twenty-six healthy participants completed the test-retest reliability measurement of the infrared thermography (IRT), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and standard error of measurement (SEM) were calculated to evaluate the reliability. Then, 21 healthy participants received different taping condition randomly for 5 times, including Y-strip of kinesio taping (KY), fan-strip of kinesio taping (Kfan), Y-strip of athletic taping (AY), fan-strip of athletic taping (Afan), and no taping (NT). Above taping methods were applied to the participants' erector spinae muscles on the same side. Skin temperature of range of interest (ROI) was measured in the taping area through IRT at pre taping and 10 min after taping. Additionally, participants completed self-perceived temperature evaluation for different taping methods through visual analog scaling. One-way repeated-measured analysis of variance was used to compare the temperature difference among different taping methods. Bonferroni test was used for post hoc analysis.

Results: There was a good test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.60-0.92; SEM = 0.33; and MD = 0.91) of the IRT. Significant differences were observed in the short-term effect on skin temperature among all different taping methods (p = 0.012, F = 3.435, and η_p ² = 0.147), post hoc test showed a higher significantly skin temperature difference in Kfan taping compared to no taping (p = 0.026, 95% CI = 0.051-1.206); However, no significant differences were observed among self-perceived temperature (p = 0.055, F = 2.428, and η_p ² = 0.108).

Conclusion: This study showed that the fan-strip of KT increased significantly the skin temperature of the waist after taping for 10 min. The application of KT may modify the skin temperature of the human body and promote local microcirculation, although it remained unclear for the real application.

Keywords: erector spinae; infrared thermal imaging; kinesio tape; skin temperature; taping shapes and materials.

FIGURE 1

Different taping methods with Kinesio Tape and Athletic Tape. (a) Y-strip of kinesio taping; (b) Y-strip of athletic taping; (c) fan-strip of kinesio taping; and (d) fan-strip of athletic taping.

FIGURE 2

IRT measurement scenario for different taping methods with Kinesio Tape and Athletic Tape. (a) Y-strip of kinesio taping; (b) Y-strip of athletic taping; (c) fan-strip of kinesio taping; and (d) fan-strip of athletic taping. Note: In the infrared thermal image, the black line areas represent the region of interest (ROI).

FIGURE 3

Comparison of skin temperature at post-taping for different taping methods ($\left[\overline{x}\right]$ ± s). Note: ^∗Significant difference between groups, p < 0.05.