Comparing the effects of Kinesio and dynamic tapes on plantar pressure and postural stability in the pre- and post-fatigue phases: The case of men with pes planus.

BACKGROUND

Pes planus (PP) is a common foot arch disorder. The present research was conducted to compare the effectiveness of Kinesio tape (KT) and dynamic tape (DT) in treating postural fluctuations during the pre-and post-fatigue phases in males with PP.

METHODS

In this crossover study, 35 men with PP were recruited. The participants attended intervention sessions on three different days. At the onset of each session, one condition-either a session without taping (WT), KT use, or DT application-was randomly selected. Afterward, plantar pressure and postural fluctuations were recorded before and after fatigue under the chosen condition with pedoscan. The taping technique used was the modified low-dye tape (LDT) method.

RESULTS

The study found that before fatigue, plantar pressure distribution increased significantly in the lateral areas and decreased in the medial areas with DT and KT compared to WT (p = 0.03). After fatigue, DT resulted in more lateral pressure and lower medial pressure than WT (both p = 0.035). Regarding the center of pressure (CoP), maximum posterior fluctuations decreased significantly after fatigue with DT compared to KT (p = 0.016). Additionally, there was a significant reduction in maximum lateral fluctuations post-fatigue with DT compared to KT (p < 0.001) and WT (p = 0.006).

SIGNIFICANCE: According to the results, we recommend using DT with the LDT method to manage PP in men. Because only the short-term effects of DT were examined in this study, future research should inquire into the long-term effects of this intervention.