Tuesday 31 March 2015

Is kinesiology taping as effective as a parachute??

I recently saw this article  in The New York Times and have to say it got me a little riled!! Basically it is asking whether Kinesiology Taping (KT) works, and more importantly where is the proof if it does.  It obviously doesn't work because there is no existing research evidence to support the claims made by I'd say thousands of professionals like myself and their clients that it does!! I say that with my tongue firmly lodged in my cheek!!  And here is my beef with 'evidenced based practice'.......we deal with people not statistics, cases or cohorts even the most evidently sound treatments are commonly never 100% effective for everyone.  You see there is a point at which the statistics become significant, meaning we can say something works.....and that's ok for those people that fall into the majority 'significant' group, but what about the ones that lie outside of it?? Or more importantly, what about listening to the INDIVIDUAL PERSON and when they say something works, and as a therapist we see something that works, and use this as our evidence?? I use KT tape loads, I've been using it for years, if I didn't think it worked, and if my clients told me it was a waste of time I wouldn't bother, simple as! I'll just share 2 examples - personally when I was pregnant I had all the usual aches and pains associated with a growing bump, didn't want to be taking painkillers so got myself taped, it made pregnancy much more comfortable, nothing adverse happened, I had full term healthy happy babies.  A client of mine who was in the palliative stages of pelvic disease had ascites (huge swelling of the abdomen) meaning that it was extremely uncomfortable and painful trying to move around her house.  I used KT to help lift the weight of her belly and give her lower back some support.  She was able to get out of bed easier, able to walk with less pain.  Nothing adverse happened, sure, she passed away within a few weeks, but I don't believe the KT caused her death, it actually helped her make the most of what time she had left as she was able to do more of the stuff she wanted to do.  But, if I had looked for the evidence to back up such applications I wouldn't find it.....so should I be doing it??   Hopefully this work  being done in Leeds will enable therapists like me to back up my many anecdotal success stories. While I'm on this topic, please do read one of my favourite ever research abstracts (if it's even possible to have a favourite piece of research) from the BMJ entitled Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials.  There's absolutely no proof that they work, but I know I'd rather have one strapped to my back if I ever find myself gravitationally challenged!

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