OBJECTIVES: To compare the short-term and medium-term effect of functional fascial taping to placebo taping on pain and function in people with non-specific low back pain. DESIGN: A pilot randomized controlled trial with a 2-week intervention, and 2-, 6- and 12-week follow-up. SETTING: Individuals with non-specific low back pain recruited from local communities. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three participants with non-specific low back pain for more than 6 weeks were randomized into either Functional Fascial Taping group (n = 21) or placebo group (n = 22). INTERVENTIONS: The intervention group was treated with functional fascial taping while the control group was treated with placebo taping. Both groups received four treatments over 2 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Worst and average pain and function were assessed at baseline, after the 2-week intervention, and at 6 and 12 weeks follow-up. RESULTS: The functional fascial taping group demonstrated significantly greater reduction in worst pain compared to placebo group after the 2-week intervention (p = 0.02, effect size = 0.74; 95% confidence interval 0.11 to 1.34). A higher proportion of participants in functional fascial taping group attained the minimal clinically important difference in worst pain (p = 0.007) and function (p = 0.007) than those in placebo group after the 2-week intervention. There were no significant differences in either group's disability rating or clinically important difference in average pain at any time. CONCLUSIONS: Functional fascial taping reduced worst pain in patients with non-acute non-specific low back pain during the treatment phase. No medium-term differences in pain or function were observed.

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