Add-on effect of kinesiotape in patients with acute lateral ankle sprain: a randomized controlled trial.

If you've ever rolled your ankle, you know how painful and frustrating the recovery can be. A recent clinical trial published in the journal Trials looked at whether combining two popular treatments — acupuncture and kinesiotape (KT), the colorful elastic tape you often see on athletes — works better than acupuncture alone for acute lateral ankle sprains, the most common type of ankle injury.

Researchers recruited 60 patients with grade I or II ankle sprains across three medical centers. Half received acupuncture once daily, five days a week for one week. The other half received the same acupuncture treatment plus kinesiotaping applied to the injured ankle. Researchers then tracked pain levels, swelling, physical function, quality of life, and whether the ankle was re-sprained over a follow-up period of up to 26 weeks.

The good news is that both groups improved significantly. Pain scores dropped, ankle function recovered, and quality of life improved in both the acupuncture-only and the acupuncture-plus-kinesiotape groups. However, the study found no meaningful difference between the two groups on any of these measures. Adding kinesiotape to acupuncture did not produce extra benefit in terms of pain relief, swelling reduction, functional recovery, or prevention of re-injury.

What does this mean for you as a patient? Acupuncture appears to be an effective standalone treatment for acute ankle sprains, producing real, measurable improvements in a short period of time. If you are already receiving acupuncture for your sprain, you may not need to add kinesiotaping to get good results — though individual responses can vary.

If you are dealing with an ankle sprain and are curious about acupuncture, speak with a licensed acupuncturist who has experience treating musculoskeletal injuries to find the best approach for your recovery.

This multicenter RCT (n=60, per-protocol n=56) evaluated the add-on effect of kinesiotape (KT) combined with acupuncture versus acupuncture monotherapy in patients with grade I or II acute lateral ankle sprain (ALAS). Both groups received daily acupuncture five days per week for one week; the AcuKT arm received concurrent kinesiotaping. Primary outcomes included VAS pain scores, Foot and Ankle Outcome Score (FAOS), and edema measurements at baseline, week 1, and week 5, with EQ-5D-5L assessed through week 26 and recurrence tracked at 4, 8, 12, and 26 weeks post-intervention. Both groups demonstrated highly significant within-group improvements across all outcomes (P<0.001). However, no statistically significant between-group differences were observed on any measure — including pain, edema, function, ADLs, quality of life, or recurrence rate — and subanalysis by symptom severity yielded the same result. No effect size data were reported. Clinical takeaway: KT does not appear to confer additional therapeutic benefit when added to acupuncture for ALAS; acupuncture alone may be sufficient as a primary intervention.