The efficacy of K-tape

I recently posted on my facebook page about an article I read regarding how good and effective kinesthesiology tape (k-tape) is for someone who has an ankle inversion, a sprained ankle to you and me. This got me thinking. When you actually sit and think about what the authors have set out to achieve, is it any wonder that they found no significant difference for k-tape on an unstable ankle!? K-tape works by what we call proprioception. This can easily be explained by using the analogy of muscle memory. I tend to use k-tape on an area of the body to help the body to re position itself correctly. For example, the scapula or shoulder blade, the patella or knee cap and the ankle if a runner over pronates. The idea of k-tape is within its elastic properties. is that it will stretch and pull slightly when you are using an area of the body which is slightly misaligned and therefore is likely to increase your pain. It then subtly and subconsciously tells your brain to alter what you are doing. In time, your body will change its "muscle memory" and begin to correct this mis-alignment you have going on. Therefore, is it any wonder that these authors found no significant difference in a study of people who have ankle instability that an elastic based tape does not improve their ankle stability. They recommend using stability tape!! It surely goes without saying that there are various tapes a physiotherapist can use and depending on the type of injury you are treating, will depend on the type of tape (if applicable) you are going to use. It is like saying I will use a water based fire extinguisher on an electrical type fire! Of course it isn't going to work and chances are, it will do you more harm! There are numerous people out there who try to dis-prove the efficacy of k-tape and it has long been a hot topic of conversation: Does it work? Doesn't it work? I personally use k-tape appropriately with my clients but I would not dream of using it if someone had an ankle sprain!