Kinesio tape (KT), known as elastic bandage, has been proposed as an easy and cost-efficient method to help athletes. The present study is a review of articles that assessed KT effects on pain. Ten papers were on how KT effects pain in athletes and some others that evaluated performance, range of motion and proprioception as well. The present Review was conducted on Google Scholar, PubMed, SPORT, MEDLINE, and Science Direct according to the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA- ScR) guidelines. Peer-viewed studies were in English between January 2010 and January 2023 and the keywords for research included “Kinesio taping” (taping, kinesiology tape), “sport”, “athletes”, “exercise”, and “pain”. In the lower extremity, particularly in anterior knee pain, vastus medialis obliqus muscle (VMO) taping and in some studies with combination of anterior thigh or patellar tendon taping were effective in reducing anterior knee pain noticeably. Six articles studied VMO muscle taping to decrease patellofemoral pain and tendinopathy. There were 2 studies that investigated pain at the calf muscle and Achilles tendon. It was shown that pain controlled after 15 minutes following KT and range of motion of Achilles tendon improved. Two papers investigated the upper extremity; neck and shoulder, respectively. In one of them, cervical muscles were targeted and pain intensity was evaluated that was reduced significantly after 3 to 7 days. In the second study, deltoid fibers were targeted and shoulder pain at rest and dysfunction of the shoulder were assessed. In the results it was indicated that pain intensity reduced, immediately after taping at both rest and arm movement. In conclusion, KT was effective in all studies. It seems that it can have a great effect on pain reduction by stimulating the cutaneous mechanoreceptors and increasing afferent feedback to the central nervous system.
