A recent study looked at the use of kinesiology tape in addition to the use of stabilization exercises for chronic low back pain. The study investigated 50 participants with lumbar pain of greater than three months duration and aged between 20 and 40 years old. Most of the participants were office workers or university students. To qualify for the study, they had to have an Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score of up to 40%, representing mild to moderate disability only.
The participants were randomly divided into two groups. Both groups completed the same exercise session three times a week for eight weeks however, the experimental group had kinesiology tape applied to their lumbar spine in addition to doing their exercise sessions. The authors measured disability via the ODI, pain via the VAS scale, and isometric trunk extension strength via the Sorensen test, and they also included a measure of sagittal spinal alignment. These measures were taken at the start of the trial and at the 8-week conclusion.
Predictably, the study found that both groups of participants improved in all measures as a result of doing an eight-week program of exercises. However, with the addition of the kinesiology tape those participants had a more significant improvement in their ODI and their VAS pain scores. There was no difference between the groups for the Sorensen test or the sagittal spinal alignment measure.
As well as being a relatively small study, one of the limitations of this study design is the A versus A+B design. Typically, people will respond favourably to additional interventions if they receive more than the control group, so therefore the results of this study need to be interpreted with caution. The study also has limited generalisability because it was conducted on a small sample size of 20- to 40-year-olds, and as such, it may not be generalizable to other age groups.
That being said, the results of this study would indicate that there is potential benefit in using kinesiology tape as an adjunct to a program of exercises for those with chronic low back pain. The addition of tape is low risk and low-cost and may give additional benefits to exercise therapy alone.
Elabd, A.M. & Elabd, O.M. (2024). Efficacy of kinesio tape added to lumbar stabilization exercises on adult patients with mechanical low back pain: A randomized, single-blind clinical trial. Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies 39, 218-224