Lee, K-W., Im, S-H., Kim, J., & Lee, J. (2012). Effect of kinesiotaping on muscle damage parameters following eccentric muscle contractions. Presentation 2939 at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, San Francisco, California; May 29-June 2, 2012.

"It is well known that repetitive eccentric muscle contractions induce muscle damage. Kinesiotaping has been designed for better blood flow and removal of fatigue materials in athletic performance. Also, it has been claimed to be useful to reduce pain but the mechanism is still unclear."

This study investigated the effect of kinesiotaping on muscle damage markers following eccentric muscle contractions in healthy males (N = 32). Ss were randomly assigned to a control (N = 8), treatment only during exercise (KTEXE, N = 8), treatment during exercise and immediately after exercise (KTEXPO, N = 8), or treatment during exercise and 24 hours after exercise (KT24, N = 8) group. Ss performed two sets of 25 eccentric muscle contractions of the elbow flexors. Measurements included maximal isometric force, muscle soreness, range-of-motion, and serum creatine kinase activity at pre- and post-activity, and 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours after exercise.

There was a significant group by time interaction in maximal isometric force where KT24 had less decrease in muscle strength and faster recovery after exercise compared to the control and KTEXE groups. A significant group by time interaction was shown in soreness where KTEXPO and KT24 had lower soreness scores compared to the control and KTEXE groups. For range-of-motion, there was a significant interaction in flexed arm-angle but no significant group by time effect in relaxed arm-angle. Additionally, a significant group by time interaction was shown in creatine kinase activity where KT24 had a lower increase in compared to the KTEXE group.

Implication. Kinesiotaping showed a positive effect on muscle damage markers following eccentric muscle contractions when the treatment was persistent for at least 24 hours after exercise compared to a short period of treatment post-exercise.

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