There we go, that should help my brain work better…
right?
Yo, this is DNews, I'm Trace.
Athletes push their bodies to the limit, which can come with stress, injury and pain.
To reach peak potential they listen to trainers, coaches, nutritionists, and physical therapists
to help manage those effects.
But to reach that peak, athletes sometimes go for unconventional alternative therapies.
One of those is extremely visible: elastic therapeutic tape.
This colorful tape is sold under various brand names, but the original elastic therapeutic
tape was invented in the 1970s by a chiropractor and acupuncturist named Dr. Kenzo Kase.
The idea is to "alleviate discomfort and facilitate lymphatic drainage by microscopically lifting
the skin," basically, by pulling on the skin, the skeletal muscles, circulatory and lymphatic
systems so it has more space to… well… muscle, circulate blood, and drain lymph.
The goal was to make people feel better, push further, and have less pain, simply by microscopically
lifting some skin with sticky-tape.
Admittedly science was skeptical -- I mean, that is sort of, like, science's thing.
Firstly, lifting the skin "microscopically" on say, a thigh, may affect surface circulation,
but won't affect the whole tissue: I mean, quadricep muscle volume alone can be 2400
cubic centimeters!
But I digress, let's look at the science.
A study used by those critical of the tape was published in Sports Medicine in 2012.
They performed a meta-analysis of studies done with elastic therapeutic tape to see
if there was evidence it fulfilled its claims.
They found 97 completed studies, but only 10 with actual control groups that also looked
at musculoskeletal outcome; and none of them had significant results for pain relief.
Their conclusion?
There was "little quality evidence to support the use of [elastic therapeutic tape] over
other types of elastic taping."10 Okay, so this new tape ain't great for pain, and doesn't
help any more or less than regular tape.
Another study used by those who promote the tape is titled, "The Clinical Efficacy of
Kinesio Tape for Shoulder Pain: A randomized, Double-blinded, Clinical Trial."11 Which is…
well you can't say it's doesn't sound official!
But looking at the study you find the authors themselves say the "physiological mechanisms
by which [the tape] is presumed to work remain hypothetical, and we can only speculate what
they might be."
But it did seem to help their small group (the whole sample was only 42 people; not
exactly generalizable).
It would've been larger, except participants were weeded out "with pathology that would
be less likely to respond to the selected taping intervention."
Does that mean "people who wouldn't look good in the results?"
Maybe...
Look, based on the research, elastic therapeutic tape has little generalizable quality scientific
evidence that it either does or doesn't work.
Though, aside from the almost 100 studies with no conclusive evidence…
at least one manufacturer is in a class action lawsuit which alleges the product doesn't
work as advertised.
But look, I'm not here to poop all over athletes.
We're just explaining and asking why?!
If it doesn't unequivocally help with muscle action, blood and lymph circulation, or pain…
why do athletes wear it?
Well, one reason may be that in the 2008 Beijing games, one of the tape companies donated 50,000
rolls to 58 countries which is why it got so popular.
Another reason may be the simple placebo effect!
In 2011, basketballer Lamar Odom (among others) donned hologrammed bracelets to quote, "harmonize
the body's naturally occurring bioelectric frequencies"19 and in 2004, baseballer Joaquin
Benoit wore nylon strands with titanium inside, to "enhance the body's energy management system,
increasing the capacity of every cell."
Athletics is as much a mental game as a physical.
The body has to be in shape, and free from major injury, but mentally pushing yourself
to run 26 miles, swim 5000 meters, or ski down a ramp to a jump 120M meters in the air…
sometimes athletes need a placebo to tell them, 'I'm going to crush this.'
So, until we know more, more research is needed.
What do you think?
Have you ever done anything to help get your head ready for a game or something crazy?!