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grip strength indicates the ability of hand muscles to grip , and has been used for risk 
 stratification to predict future health problems in individuals1 , to assess upper limb impairment , or to develop a suitable 
 treatment plan2 .
a decrease in grip 
 strength makes it difficult for subjects to use their hands for many daily activities , and 
 recovery from this muscle weakness is a major goal of rehabilitation3 . according to biomechanical principles ,
gripping force is produced by the complex activation 
 of forearm muscles , with co - contraction of forearm flexors and extensors4 .
in particular , it has been reported that 
 the strength of wrist extensors is highly correlated with grip strength3,4,5 . during grasping
, the wrist should be stabilized by wrist extensors 
 at a fixed position of approximately 30 of wrist extension3 and nearly 5 of ulnar deviation5 . in a study by shimose et al.4 ,
wrist extension training was performed and led to an increase in 
 gripping force and increased activation of wrist extensors after training .
adhesive taping has been used as a therapeutic modality , and is clinically effective in 
 reducing pain , improving joint movement , increasing muscle strength , performing fascial and 
 mechanical correction , enhancing blood and lymphatic circulation , and stimulating sensory 
 mechanisms2 , 5,6,7,8,9 .
kinesio tape ( kt ) with elastic properties was developed by kenzo 
 kase in 19735 , 9 , 10 , and the taping method 
 originated from the hypothesis that an external component could aid the functions of muscles 
 and other tissues10 .
the stretch applied 
 on the tape provides a pulling force on the skin and creates more space by lifting the 
 fascia and soft tissue9 , which improves 
 communication with mechanoreceptors and increases the number of motor units recruited10 .
non - elastic tape ( nt ) was first 
 introduced in 1984 by jenny mcconnell11 , 
 and includes the application of a protective undertape , followed by a rigid overtape which 
 is used to apply tension12 .
it has been 
 reported to enhance muscle activity , improve joint alignment , affect proprioception and 
 neuromuscular control , and restore functional movement12,13,14,15 .
subsequently , kase reported that one of the effects of kinesio tape is to increase muscle 
 strength9 , and several studies have been 
 conducted with respect to tape application methods .
however , the true effect of taping on 
 muscle strength remains unclear2 , 8 .
moreover , most previous studies compared 
 application techniques using elastic taping , but studies that evaluated muscle strength 
 using nt are limited . moreover ,
none of the studies have applied nt and kt in the same way 
 to assess grip strength in normal subjects .
the purpose of this study was to evaluate the 
 immediate effect of forearm kinesio taping and non - elastic taping application on maximal 
 grip strength in healthy adults .
we hypothesized that application of both tapes can improve 
 muscle strength by facilitating contraction .
a total of 20 healthy adults participated in this study , and were divided into two groups 
 ( kt and nt ) .
inclusion criteria were absence 
 of any known cardiopulmonary conditions and previous surgery on the tested upper extremity , 
 and absence of any active joint pain or other related symptoms in the prior 6 months8 .
exclusion criteria were very hairy or very 
 fragile skin5 , central or peripheral 
 neurological deficits , or consumption of alcoholic beverages or pharmaceutical substances 24 
 hours prior to the start of this study10 .
all subjects were informed about and understood the details of the research procedure , and 
 provided signed , informed consent prior to participation , in accordance with the ethical 
 standards of the declaration of helsinki .
the present study was conducted in a single - blind 
 fashion so that the subjects did not realize the purpose of the experiment .
participants were seated in a 
 chair without leaning , with the shoulder in slight abduction ( 15 ) , the elbows in 90 
 flexion , and forearms neutral in supination / pronation1 , 3 . in all subjects , maximal 
 grip strength
was first measured with a jamar digital hand dynamometer ( sammons preston , 
 usa ) , and the reliability test for the hand dynamometer indicated an intraclass correlation 
 coefficient of 0.9739 .
the subjects were 
 asked to grip the handle of the dynamometer with maximum effort for 3  s with a one - minute 
 rest break between trials , and the values of the 3 trials were recorded2 , 3 , 9 ; this was considered the initial maximal grip strength5 .
after the measurement of maximal grip 
 strength , one hand of each subject was taped and subjects were immediately asked to perform 
 the hand grip movement with maximum strength in the same standardized manner .
the tape was applied on the dominant hand based on the edinburgh handedness inventory , and 
 the principal investigator applied the tape for all subjects2 , 8 . for most of the basic 
 applications ,
the muscle and tissue were placed in a stretched position , and all subjects 
 were asked to perform elbow joint extension with wrist joint flexion while the tape was 
 being applied .
based on a study by kouhzad mohammadi et al.2 , the length of the tape was measured from 2  cm inferior to the 
 lateral epicondyle of the humerus to the styloid process of the radial wrist joint line 
 before application . the area to be taped
was cleaned with an alcohol swab16 , and the i - shaped kinesio tex tape was 
 applied over the common wrist extensor muscles from their origin to insertion with 50% 
 stretch tension in order to facilitate muscle function2 , 5 , 9 . using the kt methods ,
the nt was applied in the same position and 
 direction . a protective hypoallergenic tape ( endura fix tape , endura - tape pty . ltd . , 

australia ) was carefully applied over the skin without creating tension , and a rigid 
 non - elastic tape ( endura sports tape , endura - tape pty .
australia ) was applied directly 
 over the undertape with enough tension to create crimping or puckering of the skin12 .
spss software was used to examine the change in maximal grip strength after forearm taping . 

the shapiro - wilk test was used to check the 
 normal distribution of data before analysis2 .
because the collected data did not meet the normality assumption 
 ( p<0.05 ) , two non - parametric tests were used . for comparisons between the two independent 
 groups ( kt and nt ) ,
the mann - whitney u test was applied . for comparisons between two 
 dependent quantitative signs
as non - parametric 
 tests were used , median values replaced mean values for comparison11 .
no significant difference was found in the maximum grip strength between the two groups 
 ( z=1.066 , asymp .
however , in the kt group , the maximal grip 
 strength was significantly increased compared to the initial value ( z=2.519 , asymp .
( 2-tailed ) = 0.012 ) ; in the nt group , there was no significant difference in the maximal 
 grip strength ( z=0.354 , asymp .
table 1table 1.changes in maximal grip strength ( kg ) just before ( pre ) and immediately after 
 ( post ) tapingpre - testpost - testm  sdm  sdkt group31.6  7.133.1  8.4nt group36.1  11.635.9  11.7median values were used for comparison . *
values are means  sd . shows the maximal grip strength just before and immediately after application 
 of the tape .
a recent study showed that there is a strong correlation between grip strength and wrist 
 extension strength3 , with the tape applied 
 over the forearm extensor muscles to determine the change in the maximal grip strength .
the 
 use of adhesive tape is gradually increasing in the clinical field , and several studies have 
 examined it as a therapeutic intervention that may lower costs and improve outcomes6 .
it has been suggested that both rigid and 
 elastic taping techniques alter muscle force , neuromuscular control , and proprioception17 .
this study examined the effects of two tapes with different elastic properties on maximal 
 grip strength .
first , significant increases in maximal grip strength were observed 
 immediately after kinesio taping over the extensor region of the forearm .
previous studies 
 reported the same results2 , 5 , 10 ; in particular , 
 the study by lemos et al.10 showed that 
 the increase in grip strength was maintained for 48  h after the application of kt .
it is thought that the effect of 
 kinesio taping on muscles is due to the reflex mechanism of the nervous system .
most studies 
 have reported that taping over the skin constantly stimulates cutaneous mechanoreceptors , 
 thus providing more sensory signals to the central nervous system for information 
 integration2 , 5 , 9 , 11 , 18 .
in addition , reduction 
 of motor neuron threshold induced by cutaneous stimulation would influence the recruitment 
 of the motor unit , which can facilitate muscle contraction , and ultimately improve muscle 
 strength5 .
kouhzad mohammadi et al.2 also suggested that kinesio taping increases 
 sensory feedback of the taped region through skin stretching , thus facilitating contraction 
 of inactive muscles10 .
although the working mechanism of nt has been shown to be similar to that of kt13 , 16 , no effective change in maximal grip strength was noted immediately 
 following the application of nt . as in our study ,
donec et al.5 applied 5-cm wide nt medical tape ( mefix ) in a placebo group and 
 compared it with a kt taping group , and found a significant difference in maximal grip 
 strength in only the kt group .
alexander et al.12 , 
 15 applied nt on the skin overlying the 
 lower fibers of the trapezius and gastrocnemius in healthy subjects , and motor - neuron pool 
 excitability was assessed using the hoffmann reflex ( h reflex ) .
the result was surprising in 
 view of the fact that taping is thought to facilitate muscle fibers ; however , taping was 
 found to inhibit the h reflex .
we assume that these results considered the muscle length using rigid nt application 
 methods .
unlike kt , nt was applied with enough tension to create crimping or puckering of 
 the skin .
alexander et al.12 , 15 suggested that if the muscle is held in a shortened 
 position by the tension of the tape , there may be reduction in tonic muscle spindle 
 activity .
the reason grip strength was not increased in another study should be discussed8 , 9 , 19 , 20 . different taping application techniques with different tensions and 
 forms can provide different tactile stimuli19 .
while we applied the tape in the 
 direction of muscle origin to insertion with 50% of its maximal length tensed in the 
 stretched position , they applied 75% tension . in another study by chang et al.9 ,
kt was applied over the common wrist flexor 
 muscles from their insertion to origin with 1520% tension in healthy subjects , and there 
 was no statistically significant difference .
in contrast , the study by kouhzad mohammadi et 
 al.2 showed that there was a significant 
 association between grip strength and taping region , and that taping of the extensor region 
 increased the maximal grip strength significantly , compared to taping of the flexor 
 region . in our study , nt did not increase muscle strength , but park and kim21 and lee et al.13 showed increased grip strength using electromyography in patients 
 with lateral epicondylalgia , with the tape applied in a spiral or cuff form around the elbow 
 joint .
moreover , the study by chou et al.22 , in which the tape was applied from the distal end of the lateral 
 malleolus , wrapping around the posterior lower leg in subjects with chronic ankle 
 instability , found a significant increase in h : m ratio in the soleus muscle .
although taping techniques are used in clinical practice in order to achieve various 
 therapeutic effects , there is limited evidence regarding the effects on muscle strength .
two 
 types of tapes were applied in the same way , and the results showed that the kt group had a 
 statistically significant difference in muscle strength ; however , in the nt group , there was 
 no difference in muscle strength .
we believe our research will provide guidelines for 
 clinical practice for use in subjects who need to increase their muscle strength with use of 
 the tape .
[ purpose ] many assumptions have been made about taping and several studies have 
 considered tape application methods ; however , the true effect of taping on muscle strength 
 remains unclear . 
 most previous studies compared application techniques using kinesio tape 
 ( kt ) , but studies that compared muscle strength using non - elastic tape ( nt ) are limited . 
 
 moreover , no studies have applied kt and nt in the same way to assess grip strength in 
 normal subjects . 
 the purpose of this study was to evaluate the immediate effect of 
 application of two tapes with different elastic properties on maximal grip strength in 
 healthy adults . 
 [ subjects and methods ] twenty healthy adults were divided into two groups 
 ( kt and nt ) . 
 maximal grip strength was measured with a dynamometer . 
 forearm extensor 
 muscles of the dominant hand were then taped and subjects were immediately asked to 
 perform hand grip movement with maximum strength in the same standardized manner . 
 [ results ] in the kt group , maximal grip strength 
 was significantly increased compared to 
 the initial value ; however , in the nt group , there was no significant difference in 
 maximal grip strength . 
 [ conclusion ] this study suggests that only kinesio tape can 
 increase maximal grip strength immediately after application on the extensor region of the 
 forearm .