The Immediate Effects of Kinesiology Taping on Muscle Activity, Functional Balance, and Tibial Translation in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial Publisher



Ravanbod R¹ ; Moosavi N¹ ; Sharafat Vaziri A² ; Tahmasebi MN²
Source: Sport Sciences for Health Published:2025

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the immediate effects of kinesiology taping (KT) on muscle activity, functional balance, and tibial translation (TT) in individuals with ACL injury. Methods: In this randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled study, 30 men with partial ACLI were randomly assigned to either a KT group (n = 15) or a placebo KT (PKT) group (n = 15). Muscle facilitation for the vastus medialis (VM) and mechanical correction of the knee were performed using KT. Pain, muscle force, and electromyography (EMG) activity of the VM, rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), and biceps femoris (BF) were recorded during sit-to-stand (STS) and semi-squat (SS) tests. Tibial translation (TT) was measured during maximum knee flexion (T1) and full standing (T2) in both STS and SS tests using a motion analysis system. Results: Pain decreased significantly in the KT group (P = 0.04, MD = −0.27). The force of the VM, RF, and VL increased, while the EMG activity of only the VM improved in the KT group (P < 0.03). The weight transfer time in STS decreased (P = 0.006, MD = −0.12), and the maximum force during the counter movement increased in SS (P = 0.02, MD = 3.34) in the KT group. A statistically significant between-group difference was found in favor of the KT group in the STS test (P = 0.01, ηp2 = 0.23). In the T2 and SS test, the reduced TT in the KT group was approaching significance (P = 0.07). Conclusions: Kinesiology taping can immediately improve pain, muscle activity, and function in ACLI and could be considered a beneficial treatment for controlling TT which is compromised in ACLI. Given these benefits, KT could be considered a non-invasive option for enhancing rehabilitation outcomes in ACLI. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag Italia S.r.l., part of Springer Nature 2025.