Athletes and rehabilitation specialists have used Kinesio tape (KT) to help alleviate pain symptoms. Currently, no clear mechanism exists as to why pain is relieved with the use of KT and whether the pain relieving effect is simply a placebo effect. Additionally, the most effective taping parameters (tension of tape) for pain reduction remain unknown. We used quantitative sensory testing to address these key gaps in the KT and pain literature. Using a repeated-measures laboratory design, we examined whether KT applied at different tensions reduces experimentally-induced pain compared to a no tape condition and KT with minimal tension. Heat pain thresholds (HPT’s), pressure pain thresholds (PPT’s), and pressure pain suprathreshold (PPS: 125% of PPT) tests were administered to the forearm prior to and during KT and no tape conditions. Tape was applied to the ventral forearm at 25% of max tension, 75% of max tension, and no tension (placebo). Repeated measures ANOVA’s evaluated the pain outcomes between conditions and across time. KT had no significant effect on PPT’s and HPT’s (p’s >0.05). The ANOVA on PPS revealed that KT applied at 25% of tension significantly reduced pain ratings from the pretest (M = 34.4, SE = 5.5) to post-test 1 (M = 30.3, SE = 4.7) and post-test 2 (M = 30.4, SE = 4.7). No other conditions significantly reduced suprathreshold pressure pain. However, pain ratings at posttest-1 during the no-tape condition (M = 36.4, SE = 5.3) were significantly greater than pain ratings during post-test 1 and post-test 2 of all three tape conditions. In conclusion, the current study revealed that KT applied at low tension is the optimal tension to reduce pressure-evoked muscle pain. Additionally, the results suggested that KT applied at low, high, or no tension may acutely prevent increased muscle sensitivity with repeated pressure stimulation.

These results suggest that an active gaming session played at a moderate intensity is capable of temporarily reducing pain sensitivity.

and this was used to form 3 levels of exposure (ie, low [0-1], medium [2-3], high [$4]). Linear mixed model ANOVAs found that all groups demonstrated significant TS-NFR and TS-Pain; however, the degree of summation was greatest in the high exposure group (p<.05). TS-NFR and TS-Pain were similar in the other groups (ps>.05). These findings suggest that greater trauma exposure is associated with greater amplification of pain and spinal nociception. Future research should examine potential psychosocial (eg, PTSD symptoms, catastrophizing, emotion regulation) or biological (eg, allostatic load) factors that mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and enhanced TS-NFR and TS-Pain. Further study is necessary to determine whether these markers of central sensitization might contribute to the development of PTSD and/or chronic pain syndromes in those who are exposed to multiple traumatic events.