Effect of kinesio taping on isokinetic parameters of ankle joint

The popularity of application of kinesio tape (KT) during the rehabilitation process, and the need for empirical evidence on the effect of kinesio tape are compelling reasons to perform further researches on KT. This study was conducted to explore the changes that may occur in the peak torque (PT) of ankle evertors and invertors as well as the ankle strength ratios (EVCON/INVECC and EVECC/INVCON) as a result of applying different taping modes. The examined taping modes were; No tape, athletic tape (AT) and kinesio tape (KT). The study was conducted on thirty healthy volunteers of both sexes. Isokinetic concentric and eccentric PT assessments have been done for both ankle evertors and invertors using the Biodex 3 isokinetic dynamometer. All subjects were tested with the different taping modes at 30º/sec and 120º/sec. Repeated measures MANOVA revealed significant increase in the concentric and eccentric evertor PT, the EVECC/INVCON strength ratio at both of the tested velocities (30º/sec and 120º/sec) and the eccentric invertor PT at 120º/sec (P ˂ 0.025) when using KT. It was concluded that, KT has an impact on PT of ankle evertors and invertors as well as ankle strength ratio.