Effects of Kinesiotaping on the Improvement of Sensorimotor Function along with Disability in Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain

Introduction: Mechanical neck pain is a significant societal burden and may include symptoms in the neck and upper extremity. It has been reported that the lifetime and point prevalence of neck pain are almost as high as those of low back pain. It appears to run a chronic episodic course, which is characterised by episodes of persistent, recurrent, or fluctuating pain and disability. It has been found that an altered muscle activity in the Trapezius and the Serratus anterior muscles can be associated with the presence of pain in the neck during functional activities. Aim: To find out the effects of Kinesiotaping on the improvement of sensorimotor function and neck disability in patients with chronic neck pain. Materials and Methods: This was a pre-test, post-test control group design with 30 subjects randomly selected and divided into two groups, an experimental group (Group A) and a control group (Group B) with 15 subjects in each. Experimental group received Kinesio Tape (KT) for 1 week whereas control group received Sham tape. Measurements were taken on the first day and 1 week after the intervention for Cervical Joint Position Sense (CJPE), range of motion and neck disability using an inclinometer instrument, universal goniometer, Neck Disability Index (NDI) questionnaire, respectively. The data was analysed using SPSS 17 software package. Independent t-test was done to find effect between the groups and paired t-test was done to find out the effect within the group. Results: The study clearly demonstrated a significant improvement in CJPE, Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) and NDI within group A (p<0.05) whereas improvement showed significance in CROM and NDI for group B. While comparing both the groups, significant improvement in proprioception and NDI was shown but not in CROM. Conclusion: The study concludes that patients with chronic mechanical neck pain can be benefitted by the use of Kinesiotaping with improvement of sensorimotor function.