Neuromuscular taping for chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomized single-blind controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Low-back pain is a worldwide pain syndrome causing important limitations to daily activity. Common treatment guidelines recommend drugs and exercise. AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of a standardized NeuroMuscular Taping (NMT) lumbar application in reducing pain and improving function associated with back-school therapy (BST). METHODS: Single-blind randomized controlled trial. The experimental group was treated with BTS followed by three applications of NMT over 8 days and the control group who underwent only BST. All patients were evaluated before and at the end of treatment, after 4 and 8 weeks from the end of BST and with a follow-up at distance of three months from the last evaluation, with pain numeric scale, Oswestry disability index and Schober test. RESULTS: Significant pain reduction and functional improvement have been observed in the follow-up evaluations in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: Association of a standardized NMT application to BTS was seen to significantly improve function and reduce pain with longer time efficacy.

Does neuromuscular taping influence hand kinesiology? A pilot study on Down's Syndrome.

PURPOSE: This paper is a first attempt analysis of hand and upper limb proprioception coordination induced by NeuroMuscular Taping (NMT): application in a group of 5 participants with Down syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The participants underwent a drawing test with motion capture system acquisition before and after NMT application. Specific and descriptive parameters were computed and analysed in order to quantify the differences. RESULTS: Results showed statistical differences between pre and post treatment sessions: the 5 participants with Down syndrome evidenced more reliance on proprioceptive signals in the post treatment session during the execution of the specific writing tasks. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the hypothesis that modifications in proprioception should alter motor pathway mapping of the motor cortex, Neuromuscular taping may play a role in the treatment of dysgraphia and improving hand coordination following CNS impairment, even though a small treatment group was chosen for this pilot study the results lead to further discussions concerning the role of different afferent signals in a pathological context.