Evaluation of the effects of different applications of kinesio taping on postural control in healthy women.

Unlabelled: It has been demonstrated that Kinesio Tape (KT) application has immediate positive effects on balance in healthy individuals, but its mid-term effects have not yet been investigated.

Objective: Evaluate the effects of KT on postural control in young women, using four strategies.

Methods: Forty-eight healthy women aged 18-35 years old were randomly assigned to four groups with different elastic bandages (G1: ankle; G2: hamstrings; G3: lumbar; G4: different taping applications) and their postural control was evaluated using stabilographic parameters obtained on a force platform during right and left unipodal (UNP-R and UNP-L) and semi-tamdem tests at pre-intervention (PRE), immediately after (IME), and 24 and 48 h after the application of bandages.

Results: G1 showed a significantly lower velocity in the antero-posterior direction for the PRE compared to the IME period (p = 0.0204) in the UNP-R task, and the same was observed in the medio-lateral velocity when comparing the results for PRE with IME (p = 0.0340 and p = 0.0244) in the UNP-L task. Regarding the frequency, G2 had a significantly lower mean for the PRE, compared to IME (p < 0.001) in the UNP-R in antero-posterior direction, and in medio-lateral direction in the UNP-R (p = 0.003) and in the UNP-L task (p = 0.020).

Conclusions: The use of KT changed postural control, mainly considering the velocity and frequency of COP oscillations, and especially immediately after its application.