Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Sports injuries of the knee joint are very common. There are both contact injuries and non-contact injuries. Contractile injuries may be due to an impairment of the knee joint position sense or a decrease of the quadriceps muscle strength. Using a Kinesio taping method may decrease this impairment. The aim of the current study was to assess the effect of direction and tension of Kinesio taping of the quadriceps muscle on repositioning sense of the knee joint and maximum concentric and eccentric torque of the knee extensors.
Methods: Twenty-one recreationally active healthy males, determined by convenient non-probability sampling method, participated in this quazi-experimental study. The tests were performed in biomechanics laboratory of School of Rehabilitation of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, between July to November 2017. They visited biomechanics laboratory 5 sessions. The first session was for familiarization with the main tests and signing an informed consent form. For 2 through 5 sessions, one of each Kinesio tape tension approaches of 100, 115 and 140 percent (origin to insertion direction) and 100 percent (insertion to origin direction) was randomly applied on the quadriceps muscle. Active and passive repositioning sense of the knee joint at 60-degree flexion and maximum concentric and eccentric torque of the knee extensors of the dominant extremity before and after Kinesio taping were measured using a Biodex System 3 isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex Medical Systems, Shirley, NY, USA). Order of measuring active and passive repositioning sense and maximum concentric and eccentric torque of the knee extensors were randomly selected.
Results: Origin to insertion Kinesio taping method with tension of 100, 115 and 140 percent significantly decreased means of active and passive repositioning sense errors (P< 0.05) and changed means of maximum concentric and eccentric torque of the quadriceps muscle (P< 0.05). But, insertion to origin Kinesio taping did not change significantly any parameter (P> 0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results, Kinesio taping could influence on repositioning sense of the knee joint at 60-degree knee flexion. Maximum concentric and eccentric extensor torques was also increased.

Background: Tenderness, pain, muscle weakness, and limited range of motion (ROM) are symptoms of myofascial pain syndrome, which leads to restrictions on physical, occupational and social activities and ultimately reduction of productivity and quality of life. Different methods of rehabilitation are used to improve the symptoms of these patients. One of the new methods is the use of kinesio tape. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of kinesio tape on neck pain and disability and also muscle strength in myofascial pain syndrome.
Methods: In this single-blind randomized clinical trial, from June to November 2017 in Imam Hossein Hospital of Mashhad, Iran, thirty individuals (male and female) with Myofascial pain syndrome were divided into two groups (treatment and control), randomly by lottery. In treatment group, the kinesio tape with appropriate tension was applied directly over pain place and on upper trapezius muscle; and control group received placebo kinesio tape (kinesio taping without tension). In this study, before and three days after application of kinesio taping, numerical pain rating scale (NPRS), neck disability index (NDI) and manual muscle testing (MMT) were used to assess pain, disability and strength, respectively.
Results: To compare the effect of treatment, the mean of variables were compared with independent sample t-test before and after treatment. Pain and strength of upper trapezius were significantly different in both groups (P< 0.05), but in neck disability there was not significantly difference (P< 0.05). Then, for a closer examination, the paired t-test were used to compare the mean of disability before and after the treatment and result showed a significantly different in the treatment group and was not significantly different in the control group.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, kinesio tape can reduce neck pain, increase the strength of upper trapezius, and ultimately reduce the disability of neck in myofascial pain syndrome. Therefore, this method can be used in rehabilitation clinics to improve the symptoms of patients with myofascial pain syndrome.