A study by Instar, Hadaya & Hany (2017) aimed at investigating the role played by the kinesio-taping technique in the strength of the handgrip amongst patients that have developed scars after suffering dorsal hand burn.
The joint researched is the dorsal part of the hand that controls most of the functioning of the wrist and finger joints of the arm. The dorsal part contains subcutaneous layer that is poorly insulated thereby promoting the absorption of heat into the inner tendons and joints around the wrist and the fingers. It demonstrates that an inflation of the dorsal part affects most of the functional capabilities of the hand and the upper extremity parts.
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The physical therapy treatment involved the patient seating and the legs resting on the floor. The shoulder was adducted and the elbow was flexed at ninety degrees. The forearm and the wrist were left neutral and the arm was not supported. The dynamometer was placed on the patient’s hand by the therapist. The therapist also supported the base of the dynamometer and requested the patient to squeeze it i.e. the dynamometer for a minimum of three and not more than ten seconds. The patient was supposed to apply the grip smoothly and avoid prompt jerking gesture.
The patient was also supposed to permit the wrist to extend between zero and thirty degrees during the grip to ensure it gains maximum power. Each of the measurements was repeated three times to determine the intra-rater reliability. There was a one minute rest between the measurements. Then, the mean strength value of the three trails was used to determine the handgrip measure.
The results revealed there was a significant increase in the strength of the grip over time. When the grip strengths were compared at 0, 2 and 4 weeks, there were no differences amongst the grips before treatment but there were significant differences after treatment.
Another study by Dilek et al. (2016) sought to investigate the impact of kinesio-taping on patients with lateral epicondylitis.
The lateral epicondyle joint of the humerus provides the attachment for the radial collateral ligament that is found at the elbow joint. It also provides attachment to the tendon found at the origin of the supinator and other exterior muscles. The repetitive use of the forearm especially amongst sports like tennis can lead to inflammation of the joint.
The physical therapy treatment involved the use of kinesio taping on the lateral epicondyle. The technique was applied twice per week for two weeks. Evaluations were conducted on pain felt at rest, when conducting daily activities, at night and palpation on the lateral epicondyle. The evaluations were conducted along a visual analog scale and the strength of the grip was measured by a dynamometer. A Nirschl score was used to assess the stage of the disease while the functionality of the affected limb was determined using a patient-rated forearm evaluation questionnaire.
The results indicated that after the kinesio taping treatment, all the parameters of the condition improved significantly based on the values obtained from the visual analog scale, Nirschl score, hand grip strength and the questionnaire scores. The results showed that the hand grip strength of the side that was affected attained a 67.5 % score in similarity to the unaffected side. The results indicated that the kinesio taping technique improved the functionality of the joint and the entire limb demonstrating its effectiveness on improving the treatment outcomes.
References
Dilek, B., Batmaz, I., Sarıyıldız, M., Sahin, E., Ilter, L., Gulbahar, S., Cevik, R. & Nas, K. (2016). Kinesio taping in patients with lateral epicondylitis. Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, 29 (4): 853-858.
Instar, S., Hadaya, M. & Hany, M. (2017). Impact of kinesiology taping on handgrip strength following dorsal hand burn. International Journal of Therapies & Rehabilitation Research, 6 (2): 131-136.
