The effect of elastic therapeutic taping on lumbar extensor isokinetic performance.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of elastic therapeutic tape when applied overlaying the lumbar extensors on different measures of muscle performance, compared to a placebo taping technique and a no-tape control. DESIGN: A cross-sectional experimental study. SETTING: A biomechanics laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty one participants received three taping conditions in a randomised order: elastic therapeutic tape, a placebo tape and a no-tape control. Peak torque, the time taken to reach peak torque and peak velocity were measured using an isokinetic dynamometer. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Concentric lumbar extension peak torque at 60°/s, time taken to reach peak torque and peak velocity was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer. Friedman's test and post-hoc Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to determine the statistical differences between the three taping conditions. Level of signicance was set at 0.05.fi. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement in peak lumbar extensor torque was observed when comparing elastic therapeutic tape with the no-tape control (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant differences in time taken to reach peak torque and peak velocity (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate that the application of elastic therapeutic tape overlaying the primary lumbar extensors significantly improves the maximal lumbar extension peak torque in healthy, asymptomatic adults.

Tibial nerve excursion during lumbar spine and hip flexion measured with diagnostic ultrasound.

Ultrasound imaging provides a method for non-invasive in vivo measurement of nerve motion resulting from joint movement. This study measured the proximal excursion of the tibial branch of the sciatic nerve at the popliteal fossa during forward bending in healthy subjects. Long-axis image sequences of the nerve were analysed using frame-by-frame cross-correlation software that calculated the longitudinal and axial movement of the nerve. Proximal excursion was calculated from the hypotenuse of these values. The mean proximal excursion recorded was 12.2 mm (SD 2.2 mm, n = 24). The reliability of three repeat measurements was found to be excellent (ICC 0.97, 95% CI 0.93-0.99; SEM 0.7 mm, n = 21). The protocol described provides a reliable method for analysing tibial nerve movement that could prove useful in future clinical studies.