Therapeutic tape applied to the knee significantly reduces pain caused by osteoarthritis. In a randomised controlled trial in Australia, Hinman and colleagues (p 135) studied the effects of therapeutic tape, a control tape, and no tape in 87 patients aged 50 years and older with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients allocated therapeutic tape reported the greatest reduction in pain, and benefits were maintained three weeks after treatment had stopped. The authors suggest that knee tape may reduce pain by realigning the patella and unloading painful soft tissues. They state that knee taping, as an adjunct to exercise and drug treatment for knee osteoarthritis, is a simple and inexpensive self management strategy.
Figure 1.
Credit: ANTONIA REEVE/SPL