The effect of anti-pronation and anti-supination taping on neuromuscular control in recreational athletes with Achilles Tendinopathy: A randomized controlled cross-over trial

Tongzhou Zhang; Yilin Zhao; Roger Adams; Peter Malliaras; Jeremy Witchalls; Weijie Fu; Jia Han

doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2024.12.006

The effect of anti-pronation and anti-supination taping on neuromuscular control in recreational athletes with Achilles Tendinopathy: A randomized controlled cross-over trial

Phys Ther Sport. 2024 Dec 28:71:92-99. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2024.12.006. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tongzhou Zhang¹, Yilin Zhao², Roger Adams³, Peter Malliaras⁴, Jeremy Witchalls³, Weijie Fu⁵, Jia Han⁶

Affiliations

¹ Shanxi Institute of Sport Science, 030012, Shanxi, China.
² Suzhou Municipal Hospital, 215002, Suzhou, China.
³ Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, 2601, Canberra, Australia.
⁴ Department of Physiotherapy, Monash University, 3800, Melbourne, Australia.
⁵ School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, 200438, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: fuweijie@sus.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, 201318, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: Jia.Han@canberra.edu.au.

PMID: 39746246
DOI: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2024.12.006

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effects of different directions of athletic taping on neuromuscular control of the lower limb in recreational athletes with Achilles tendinopathy (AT).

Design: Crossover Study.

Setting: Functional assessment laboratory.

Participants: Thirty recreational athletes with AT.

Main outcome measures: Participants were randomly treated with anti-pronation taping, anti-supination taping, or no-taping. Under different taping conditions, neuromuscular tests were performed in random order: ankle proprioception Active Movement Extent Discrimination Assessment (AMEDA), Weight-Bearing Lunge Test (WBLT), single leg hop test, figure-of-eight hop test and Lower Extremity Functional Test (LEFT).

Results: Compared with no-taping, both anti-pronation taping and anti-supination taping significantly improved AMEDA proprioception test scores (p < 0.001,η_p² = 0.466), figure-of-eight hop performance (p < 0.001,η_p² = 0.307), unilateral LEFT scores (p < 0.001,η_p² = 0.448), and may reduce risk of lower limb injury in recreational athletes with AT (p < 0.001,η_p² = 0.432). Taping significantly reduced WBLT values (p < 0.001,η_p² = 0.259) but had no significant effect on single leg hop test scores (p = 0.139). Importantly, no difference between the two taping conditions was observed.

Conclusions: Both directions of athletic taping were equally effective in improving ankle proprioception, lower extremity functional performance, and reducing the risk of injury in athletes with AT, but had no significant effect on lower limb explosive strength and were associated with significantly reduced ankle dorsiflexion.

Keywords: Athletic tape; Lower extremity function; Proprioception; Tendinopathy.