What is up with Kinesio tapes, those adhesives that more and more athletes are sporting?

According to orthopedic  Dr. Philip Hermida, a lot of controversy surround the usage of the Kinesio tape, an elastic adhesive tape used commonly by athletes to alleviate pain and support their muscles.

In ManilaMed - Medical Center Manila's press conference on sports injury prevention Wednesday, Hermida said, "Kinesio tapes act as skin extension wherein you apply sa skin and pull on it to put tension, parang spring effect. You're trying to protect those groups of muscles by stretching them."

Photo by by Airman 1st Class Alystria Maurer Courtesy of Wikipedia

Kinesio, the group dedicated to the Kinesio taping method, has stated that the tape helps "re-educate the neuromuscular system, reduce inflammation, prevent injury and promote good circulation and healing."

But, Hermida added that although there has been a wide usage of the tape, there is no proven data of its effectivity.

"It does not give any assurance that you will get better. Sometimes athlete would do that thinking na kung may ganoon ka, mas gagaling ka," he said. "There is no solid evidence to support this yet."

Dr. Betty Mancao, an expert on rehabilitation medicine, even said that when you apply the tape, you actually limit the range of that joints.

"When you apply that tape you actually limit the range of that joint," she said. "We actually use the tape to immobilize eh."