Effects of elastic taping on selected functional impairments of the musculo-ligament apparatus (2008)

Background

Kinesiological taping represents an alternative method in the treatment of disorders of the musculosceletal system. While recent studies question its effectiveness, this study demonstrates the clinical effectiveness and effi ciency in comparison to the conventional treatment using physical and physiological therapeutic methods.

Methods

The experiment included a taping group of 35 patients, and a control group of 30 patients. The treatment was aimed exclusively at acute functional disorders diagnosed as lower back pain, cervical spine syndrome, pes anserinus syndrome, and tibialis anterior syndrome. Following the treatment, the patients were clinically examined immediately, and after 24, 48, 72 hours, and after one and two weeks, including questions about their symptoms. The results were analyzed using the student’s t-test for signifi cance (p≤0.05).

Results

Patients of the taping group were symptomfree in significantly less time than those of the control group. Specifi cally, patients of the taping group with lower back pain were symptom-free after 2.3 days (control group: 9.6 days), with cervical spine syndrome after 1.44 days (control group: 11.2 days), with pes anserinus syndrome after 1.67 days (control group: 10.5 days), and with tibialis anterior syndrome after 3.0 days (control group: 8.73 days).

Conclusions

This study provides indications for the effectiveness of the method. Furthermore, it demonstrates superiority over the conventional, orthodox treatment methods.