http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/08/11/kinesio_tape_what_s_the_deal_with_that_tape_every_olympian_wears_should_it_be_banned_.html
Daniel Lametti wrote an article on August 11th about the use of the strange colorful tapes athletes have been wearing during the London Olympic Games. The article's first paragraph talked about where these tapes have been used a lot recently, as well as their function, which was to "facilitate the body's natural healing process" according to the company (Kinesio) that made them. Surprisingly, he explained that these tapes were just like any other, and they did not really have anything to make them special. However, Lametti explained that the tapes had a placebo effect- "the idea that medically inert substances that people believe to have a beneficial effect can, in fact, have a beneficial effect." The paragraph ended with proof from studies showing that placebo did result in better performance. The following two paragraphs gave examples to support placebo to be something good. A cyclist said felt better after having "taken" 9mg of caffeine, and an experiment showed placebo had a positive effect on people with pain- those that "took" morphine endured pain more than those who did not.
Lametti's purpose of writing this article is to inform how these Kinesio tapes have a placebo effect on the athletes to give a better performance during the games, and question whether these tapes should be banned or not. Though it is not clear if he supports the use of these tapes, it is evident he is not against them as well. In the second paragraph, Lametti says, "But this doesn’t mean athletes shouldn’t use it...," and in the last paragraph, he gives his opinion "But this argument, I think, is weak," and later on says, "It would be ridiculous to ban any of these things, much less all of them. So let’s put Kinesio tape in the same category as a playoff beard: a potential performance enhancer that adds some color to our favorite sports."
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