Effectiveness of Cross Taping as a Therapy for Delayed Muscle Soreness

Abstract

Background \& purpose, Decrease muscle soreness by medical tape is supported by the literature. The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the cross tapes in muscle soreness. Twenty normal subjects ranging in age from 18 to 55 with no history of previous skin allergy from any tape and do not have any upper body injuries participated. Subjects will perform the lowering phase of a bicep curl exercise using a dumbbell consisting of 3 sets 25 repetition, followed 90 seconds rest between each set. A grid shaped adhesive, a little larger than a stamp, called a cross tapes will be applied in the bicep of the dominant hand and the other hand as control for one week. The range of motion and pain for both arms will be measured before and after applied the tape. The study findings show that there were statically significant difference between the range of motion and the pain (pre, post) when the procedure is carried out over a period of two consecutive weeks (1 day per week) with large effect size (0.2) and strong power (0.96). However; there were no significant differences between the two groups (right, left arms) with medium effect size (0.1) and weak power (0.33). Therefore, this study suggest that cross tapes may reduce delayed onset of muscle soreness, however more research is needed. Future studies should include a larger number of subjects, more diverse cohort, an exercise that applies a greater intensity, and expands the time of research. Cross tape is an advisable method to decrease delayed onset of muscle soreness and improved functional performance.