The immediate effect of kinesiology taping on muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck in infants: a randomized masked study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the immediate effect of kinesiology taping (KT) on muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck.

DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial.

PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-nine infants with congenital muscular torticollis and muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck were chosen consecutively. In addition, 5 healthy infants with no signs of muscular imbalance in the neck were tested.

METHOD: The infants were randomly allocated to either an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group had kinesiology taping applied on the affected side using the muscle-relaxing technique. The healthy infants were tested both with and without kinesiology taping. The evaluator was blinded to whether the infants were or were not taped.

RESULTS: There was a significant difference in the change of Muscle Function Scale (MFS) scores between the groups (P < .0001). In the intervention group, there were significantly lower scores on the affected side that had been taped (P < .0001) and also significantly higher scores on the unaffected side (P = .01). There were no significant differences in the control group. For the healthy infants, with no imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck, there were no changes to the MFS scores regardless of whether the kinesiology tape was applied.

CONCLUSIONS: For infants with congenital muscular torticollis, kinesiology taping applied on the affected side had an immediate effect on the MFS scores for the muscular imbalance in the lateral flexors of the neck.