The Comparison of Actual and Sham Kinesio Taping on Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

In clinical conditions, it has been shown that Kinesio Taping (KT) is effective for many musculoskeletal disorders, but its effect on chronic low back pain (CLBP) has not been well studied. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of sham and actual KT in patients with non-specific CLBP.
In this single-blind controlled clinical trial, the statistical sample size was 40 patients with non-specific CLBP. The subjects of experimental group (N=20; mean age, 48.6 years) received KT for paravertebral muscles with 10-15% tension in 8 sessions (during 4 weeks); while in control group (N=20, mean age, 50.3 years), KT was applied without tension in the same period of time. The primary variables included pain intensity and CLBP-related disability following a 4-week intervention; however, secondary variables were intensity of pain and disability, 12 weeks after the end of intervention. The data analysis was performed using descriptive statistical tests and linear analysis of variance.
In this study, KT application with tension caused no significant change in pain intensity and disability (4 weeks after intervention) (p>0.05). Also, no significant between-group difference was observed for the measured variables (p>0.05).
Based on the results of this study, application of KT with tension to generate skin convolutions was not more effective compared to its application without tension. These results may challenge the suggested mechanisms for effectiveness of KT. Therefore, further researches are required to resolve this challenge.