None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Exercise related leg pain (ERLP) is a common lower limb overuse injury that often leads to interruption of physical activity. Appropriate management of ERLP is vital in assisting individuals to return to full activity, particularly given that previous history of injury is a strong risk factor in development of the condition. Taping techniques of the leg/ankle/foot are frequently used by clinicians in the management of ERLP. Despite this, no scientific study has evaluated the effectiveness of taping to reduce symptoms and improve function in ERLP. Whilst there is one previous study that has investigated the effect of rigid taping techniques on lower limb movement patterns, muscle activity and foot posture, there is no study that has investigated the effects of elastic taping. This is concerning given the rapid clinical uptake of these elastic taping techniques. An improved understanding of these taping techniques will facilitate the clinician in selecting the most suitable technique and increase the likelihood of success. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of rigid and elastic taping techniques in addition to exercise alone for the treatment of exercise related leg pain. We hypothesise that the addition of rigid or elastic taping to exercise will produce superior improvements in pain and function compared to exercise alone.
Interventions
Arm 1: Participants in this group will receive advice and education related to load management and will be prescribed an exercise program to perform at home. Advice and education will be provided for the first week of the study. This will involve one individual face-to-face session of approximately 10-15 minutes with the treating physiotherapist for the study at the beginning of week 1 of the study. Individuals will be provided with a printed handout explaining exercise related leg pain and advi
Arm 1: Participants in this group will receive advice and education related to load management and will be prescribed an exercise program to perform at home. Advice and education will be provided for the first week of the study. This will involve one individual face-to-face session of approximately 10-15 minutes with the treating physiotherapist for the study at the beginning of week 1 of the study. Individuals will be provided with a printed handout explaining exercise related leg pain and advised to monitor activity (load) and symptoms via the use of an activity diary. At the beginning of week 2, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session where advice and education will be reinforced and training in the exercise program will occur. The exercise program will include two exercises: (i) foot form strengthening exercise, and (ii) gluteus medius and maximus strengthening exercise. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily (the program will take no more than 10 to 15 minutes) and record in a training diary for the duration of week 2 of the study. At the beginning of week 3, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session to reinforce advice and education, review the exercise program and progress exercises as able. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily and record in a training diary for a further 4 weeks. Participants will be contacted weekly to check progress and encourage compliance. Arm 2: Participants will receive advice and education related to load management, be prescribed a progressive exercise program and wear an augmented low-Dye (ALD) taping technique. At the beginning of week one, advice and education will be provided and ALD tape will be applied. Advice and education will involve one individual face-to-face session of approximately 10-15 minutes with the treating physiotherapist for the study. Individuals will be provided with a printed handout explaining exercise related leg pain and advised to monitor activity (load) and symptoms via the use of an activity diary. Throughout the study ALD taping will be applied to all participants by the same experienced physiotherapist using a rigid sports tape (38 mm zinc oxide adhesive, Leukosport BDF). ALD tape will remain in situ for the duration of the first week of the study. Participants will be re-taped half way through week 1. At the beginning of week 2, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session where advice and education will be reinforced and training in the exercise program will occur. The exercise program will include the same two exercises as Arm 1 of the study: (i) foot form strengthening exercise, and (ii) gluteus medius and maximus strengthening exercise. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily (the program will take no more than 10 to 15 minutes) and record in a training diary for the duration of week 2 of the study. At this session, the ALD tape will be re-applied. ALD tape will remain in situ for the duration of the second week of the study. Participants will be re-taped half way through week 2. At the beginning of week 3, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session to reinforce advice and education, review the exercise program and progress exercises as able. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily and record in a training diary for a further 4 weeks. Participants will be contacted weekly to check progress and encourage compliance. No tape will be applied during these final 4 weeks of the intervention. Arm 3: Participants will receive advice and education related to load management, be prescribed a progressive exercise program and wear an anti-pronation elastic tape technique. At the beginning of week one, advice and education will be provided and the elastic tape technique will be applied. Advice and education will involve one individual face-to-face session of approximately 10-15 minutes with the treating physiotherapist for the study. Individuals will be provided with a printed handout explaining exercise related leg pain and advised to monitor activity (load) and symptoms via the use of an activity diary. Throughout the study the anti-pronation elastic taping technique will be applied to all participants by the same experienced physiotherapist (50mm, Beige Dynamic Tape). Elastic tape will remain in situ for the duration of the first week of the study. Participants will be re-taped half way through week 1. At the beginning of week 2, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session where advice and education will be reinforced and training in the exercise program will occur. The exercise program will include the same two exercises as Arm 1 of the study: (i) foot form strengthening exercise, and (ii) gluteus medius and maximus strengthening exercise. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily (the program will take no more than 10 to 15 minutes) and record in a training diary for the duration of week 2 of the study. At this session, the elastic tape will be re-applied. Elastic tape will remain in situ for the duration of the second week of the study. Participants will be re-taped half way through week 2. At the beginning of week 3, the participant will attend a half hour physiotherapy session to reinforce advice and education, review the exercise program and progress exercises as able. Participants will be instructed to perform the exercises daily and record in a training diary for a further 4 weeks. Participants will be contacted weekly to check progress and encourage compliance. No tape will be applied during these final 4 weeks of the intervention.
Sponsors
Dr Melinda Smith
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 40 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Female volunteers will be eligible for participation in the trial on the basis of the following criteria: age 18 to 40 years, insidious onset of pain unrelated to any traumatic event, pain located between the knee and ankle of at least one month duration that is aggravated by weight bearing activities such as running, hopping or jumping, and worst pain over the previous week of at least 30mm on a 100mm visual analogue scale.
Exclusion criteria
Volunteers will be excluded if they have any of the following: a history of surgery to the lower limb, a cardiac condition, a known allergy to adhesive strapping tape, a known bleeding disorder or taking blood anti-coagulant medication, aichmophobia (fear of needles), known transmissible blood infection (e.g. HIV, hepatitis), or symptoms of radiculopathy or other neurologic involvement. Extensive previous exposure to either taping technique will also exclude volunteers from participation in order to prevent bias to one intervention.
Outcome results
None listed