Kinesio Taping Shows Promise for Feeding Problems in Children, Review Finds

According to a systematic review of randomized controlled trials published in the Egyptian Pediatric Association Gazette, the technique showed strong evidence of benefit for swallowing and sucking and moderate evidence for drooling and chewing in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, most commonly cerebral palsy. The review’s authors, however, caution that the findings rest on a small and heterogeneous body of trials and should be interpreted carefully, particularly for sucking and chewing, where the number of available studies is very limited.

Oromotor dysfunction refers to disturbances of vital functions such as drinking, chewing, swallowing, sucking and drooling, arising from deficits in the timing, coordination and dissociation of oral movements. It is often recognized when a child coughs or chokes while eating, but feeding problems can also present in subtler ways, such as difficulty introducing spoon feedings, advancing food textures, or accepting a limited variety of foods. Feeding difficulties affect more than one-fifth of typically developing children and are reported in over two-thirds of children with developmental disabilities. Among children with cerebral palsy, previous studies have reported prevalence rates of 44.0 percent for drooling, 50.4 percent for swallowing disorders and 53.5 percent for feeding difficulties, and these impairments can adversely influence growth and nutritional status.

The review team, led by Amira F. El-Sheikh and colleagues, followed the PRISMA reporting guidelines and registered the study protocol on the PROSPERO registry with registration number CRD42024612526. The researchers searched PubMed, PEDro, the Cochrane Library, Google Scholar and Embase for randomized controlled trials published in English between 2014 and 2025. The database search identified 2,320 articles, of which 1,043 remained after duplicates were removed with the Rayyan tool. After screening, 19 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and seven were excluded, for reasons including not being a randomized controlled trial, not yet being published, being published in Spanish, and not containing original data. Eleven randomized controlled trials ultimately met the inclusion criteria.

Together, the eleven trials included 478 children with a range of neurodevelopmental disorders. Cerebral palsy was the most common diagnosis, but participants with developmental delay, seizure disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, childhood stroke, Down syndrome and idiopathic intellectual disability were also represented. The age range extended from 31 weeks to 18 years, and nearly half of the participants were female. The trials tested kinesio taping applied alone or combined with oromotor exercises against control interventions that included no taping, oromotor training, sham taping, rigid tape, manipulation therapy, or kinesio taping alone. Six trials used kinesio taping as a standalone intervention in the study group and five used combined interventions with oromotor exercises.

Methodological quality was assessed with the PEDro scale, on which the included trials averaged 6.2 points out of 10, with individual scores ranging from 5 to 8. Seven studies were rated as good quality and four as fair. The strength of evidence for each outcome was classified using the Modified Sackett Scale, a hierarchical framework used to rate the strength and reliability of scientific research. By this framework, all seven trials addressing drooling showed moderate evidence at Level 1b, all three trials addressing swallowing showed strong evidence at Level 1a, all three trials addressing sucking showed strong evidence at Level 1a, and a single trial addressing chewing showed moderate evidence at Level 1b.

The review’s authors did not pool the results statistically. Because of substantial clinical and methodological heterogeneity among the trials in terms of participants, interventions, protocols, outcome measures and study quality, a meta-analysis was not possible, and the findings were synthesized descriptively and presented in tables organized by the four main oromotor outcomes. This decision reflects a persistent problem in this literature: the trials differed in how the tape was applied, how long it was worn, which muscles were targeted, and which outcome instruments were used, including the drooling quotient, the drooling severity and frequency scale, and the oral motor assessment scale.

Details of the application methods varied considerably across the studies. In five trials, kinesio tape was applied to the orbicularis oris muscle, the muscle responsible for lip sealing, protrusion and compression, using approximately 10 to 15 percent tension. The review’s authors suggest that taping this muscle may promote more effective lip closure, which can help maintain saliva within the oral cavity, and that the resulting pressure on the tongue may enhance proprioceptive feedback and stimulate swallowing. One trial applied the tape not only over the orbicularis oris but also over the masseter and suprahyoid muscle groups. Taping the masseter may promote mandibular stabilization and jaw approximation, while taping the suprahyoid area may enhance the mobility of the hyoid bone and epiglottis during swallowing. No standardized approach to tape tension was identified across the included studies, with reported tensions ranging from 0 to 100 percent of the tape’s maximum achievable elongation.

The trial-level results showed a mixed but generally favorable picture. For drooling, seven trials found that kinesio taping had a good impact whether applied alone or combined with oromotor exercises, although one trial found that oromotor exercises alone were better than taping for drooling. For swallowing, three trials showed benefit, with combined therapy accelerating oral feeding and swallowing, and one trial using standalone taping reported improvement in maximum rhythm of swallow compared with standardized care. For sucking, three trials showed significant improvement in feeding functions in premature infants with sucking difficulties, including tongue movement, sucking power, number of sucks and jaw movement, when tape was applied to the masseter, hyoid and orbicularis oris muscles. For chewing, a single trial showed significant improvement in jaw movement when taping was combined with a rehabilitation program that included oral stimulation with vibration, pressure and manipulation.

The review’s authors place these findings in the context of earlier syntheses. A previous review by Gholami and colleagues highlighted that existing evidence was limited by methodological variability across primary studies, while other reviews noted promising short-term benefits, particularly when taping was combined with standard speech or physical therapy. For drooling, kinesio taping has been considered a safe and effective therapeutic approach, although its impact may diminish over time, and current evidence remains too limited to allow conclusive recommendations regarding routine use. One review concluded that kinesio taping combined with oromotor management may be beneficial in decreasing drooling among children with neurological disorders, with no reported adverse consequences. The authors state that no previous systematic reviews had addressed sucking or chewing specifically.

The review has several acknowledged limitations. The number of randomized controlled trials is sparse for some outcomes, particularly chewing, which was addressed by only a single study. Significant heterogeneity among the trials in intervention protocols, tape tension, duration and application method compromises direct comparison of results and makes meta-analysis inappropriate. Most current studies also lack long-term follow-up, so the sustainability of any benefits remains unknown. The authors call for larger and more representative samples, standardization of intervention protocols, extended monitoring periods, and the use of objective assessment tools capable of detecting subtle improvements in oromotor function. Until such studies are completed, the evidence suggests that kinesio taping is a promising but not yet definitively established option for children with oromotor dysfunction, and clinicians are advised to weigh how closely the included trials match their own patient populations and clinical settings.

Subject of Research: Kinesio taping for oromotor dysfunction in children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Article Title: Kinesio taping for oromotor dysfunction in children; a systematic review of randomized controlled trials

Article References: El-Sheikh, A. F., Khalifa, A. R., Aly, M. G., & Ibrahim, A. F. (2026). Kinesio taping for oromotor dysfunction in children; a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Egyptian Pediatric Association Gazette, 74(1), Article 132. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43054-026-00630-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s43054-026-00630-4

Keywords: kinesio taping, oromotor dysfunction, cerebral palsy, swallowing, drooling, sucking, chewing, systematic review, randomized controlled trials, pediatric rehabilitation, feeding difficulties, PEDro scale