Effect of kinesio taping on chronic mechanical neck pain: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of kinesio taping (KT) combined with exercises on pain, functional disability, and cervical range of motion (CROM) for patients with chronic mechanical neck pain (MNP) after 1 and 6 weeks of intervention. A total of 60 patients with MNP participated in this randomized clinical trial; their age ranged from 30 to 40 years. They were assigned randomly into two equal groups: the control group received infrared, stretching, isometric, and strengthening exercises 3 days per week for 6 weeks, and the experimental group received KT in addition to the same program as the control group. Pain level, neck function, and CROM were measured by visual analog scale, neck disability index (NDI), and CROM, respectively. Data were collected at baseline, after 1 week, and after 6 weeks of intervention for both groups. Multivariate analysis of variance test showed a significant reduction in pain level (F=6.588, P=0.016), and NDI (F=4.961, P=0.034) after 1 week favoring the experimental group. There was a main significant effect of time (P< 0.05) after 6 weeks; however, there was no significant interaction for pain, NDI, and CROM after 6 weeks (P> 0.05). KT combined with conventional treatment after 1 week was found to be effective in improving pain, and functional ability than conventional treatment alone in patients with MNP, while there was no difference between both groups after 6 weeks.