CONTEXT: Knee injury prevention is a critical aspect in sport rehabilitation sciences and taping is a widely used technique in this field. Nevertheless, the role and effectiveness of a long-term application of Kinesio Taping on knee function, disability and injury prevention remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of Kinesio Taping, alone or in combination with balance exercises, on dynamic and static knee balance and flexibility. DESIGN: Randomized trial design. SETTING: University of Valencia (Spain). PARTICIPANTS: 48 male amateur soccer players. INTERVENTION: Participants were assigned to three groups: sham KT (sKT) plus BE; KT+BE; and KT in isolation. The intervention period lasted 4 weeks. Three evaluations were performed: at baseline (pre), at two weeks (mid) and at four weeks post-treatment (post). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Y-Balance Test (YBT), Unipedal Stance Test (UST), the Toe Touch Test (TTT) and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). RESULTS: Both sKT+BE and KT+BE groups achieved significant pre-post improvements in SEBT, UST and TTT. The KT group only showed significant intra-group differences in the left and right UST variable (p < 0.05, d 0.76, d 0.62 respectively). The sham KT group obtained the strongest results in all physical variables. Regarding the KOOS, pre-post significant changes were found in the sham group (p < 0.05, d 0.28). CONCLUSIONS: Both sham and real KT in combination with BE achieved significant improvements on all physical variables, and these differences were significantly greater compared to those found in the KT in isolation group, suggesting that benefits in knee function are due to the BE. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapy level 1b.
Copyright Human Kinetics. Reprinted with permission from Human Kinetics (Champaign, IL).

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