Trial reportPloS one2020
The immediate effects of kinesiology taping on cutaneous blood flow in healthy humans under resting conditions: A randomised controlled repeated-measures laboratory study.
Trial report in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain Unraveled: Kinesio Taping as a Novel Approach to Myofascial Pain Management.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Clinical Implications of Kinesiotaping for Forearm Muscle Function: Acute Effects on Grip Strength, Pain Sensitivity, and Muscle Oxygenation in Healthy Active Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Kinesiology Taping Does Not Affect Tarsal Joint Motion During Selected Exercises in Dogs.Veterinary sciences · 2025Article
- Does Kinesio Taping Enhance Exercise Performance and Recovery in Healthy Males Under Heat Stress?Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Elastic Taping Application on the Neck: Immediate and Short-Term Impacts on Pain and Mobility of Cervical Spine.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2023Article
- Kinesio Taping as a Therapeutic Tool for Masticatory Myofascial Pain Syndrome-An Insight View.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Kinesiology Tape: A Descriptive Survey of Healthcare Professionals in the United States.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKinesiology taping (KT) is used in musculoskeletal practice for preventive and rehabilitative purposes. It is claimed that KT improves blood flow in the microcirculation by creating skin convolutions and that this reduces swelling and facilitates healing of musculoskeletal injuries. There is a paucity of physiological studies evaluating the effect of KT on cutaneous blood microcirculation.
objectivesThe purpose of this parallel-group controlled laboratory repeated measures design study was to evaluate the effects of KT on cutaneous blood microcirculation in healthy human adults using a dual wavelength (infrared and visible-red) laser Doppler Imaging (LDI) system. KT was compared with rigid taping and no taping controls to isolate the effects associated with the elasticity of KT.
methodsForty-five healthy male and female human adults were allocated to one of the three interventions using constrained randomisation following the pre-intervention measurement: (i) KT (ii) ST (standard taping) (iii) NT (no taping). Cutaneous blood perfusion was measured using LDI in the ventral surface of forearm at pre-intervention, during-intervention and post-intervention in a normothermic environment at resting conditions.
resultsMixed ANOVA of both infrared and visible-red datasets revealed no statistically significant interaction between Intervention and Time. There was statistically significant main effect for Time but not Intervention.
conclusionKT does not increase cutaneous blood microcirculation in healthy human adults under resting physiological conditions in a normothermic environment. On the contrary, evidence suggests that taping, regardless of the elasticity in the tape, is associated with immediate reductions in cutaneous blood flow.
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