Kinesio taping in patients with lateral epicondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Lateral epicondylitis (LE) is a painful condition that affects the tendinous tissue of the lateral epicondyle of the humerus and leads to loss of function of the affected limb. Therefore it can have a major impact on the patient's social and personal life. Many treatments are recommended for lateral epicondylitis; unfortunately the evidence is limited. OBJECTIVES: The aim of study was to investigate the effect of kinesio taping (KT) on pain, grip strength and function in patients LE. METHODS: Thirty-one (23 females, 8 males) patients with LE were included. KT was applied twice a week for 2 weeks. Pain at rest, activity of daily living (ADL), night and palpation on lateral epicondyle was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS 0-10 cm), and the grip strength was measured with a hand held dynamometer. The stage of the disease was evaluated by the Nirschl score and the functional status was assessed with Patient-Rated Forearm Evaluation Questionnaire (PRTEQ) score. These parameters were evaluated before, at 2 weeks and 6 weeks after treatment. Patients' satisfaction was also recorded on a Likert scale after treatment at 2 weeks and 6 weeks. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 43.58 ± 9.02. The dominant limb was affected in 64.5% (20) of the patients. After the application of KT on lateral epicondyle, there was a significant improvement in all parameters in terms of pain, Nirschl score, hand grip strength, patient satisfaction, and PRTEQ scores at 2 and 6 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Kinesio taping can be an effective treatment method in LE. This application improves pain, grip strength and functional status of the patients with LE.

Efficacy of Pulsed and Continuous Therapeutic Ultrasound in Myofascial Pain Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare continuous and pulsed ultrasound therapy with sham ultrasound in terms of pain, severity of muscle spasm, function, depression, and quality of life in patients with myofascial pain syndrome. DESIGN: Patients were randomly divided into three groups, including the continuous ultrasound group (3 MHz, 1 W/cm, n = 20), the pulsed ultrasound group (3 MHz, 1 W/cm, 1:1 ratio, n = 20), and control group (sham, n = 20). The primary outcome measures were severity of pain at rest and during activity (visual analog scale, 0-10 cm). The secondary outcome measures were function (Neck Pain and Disability Scale), depressive mood (Beck Depression Scale), and quality of life (Nottingham Health Profile). All evaluations were performed at baseline, after treatment, and at the 6th and 12th wks. RESULTS: All three groups had significant improvements in all of the pain scores, the severity of muscle spasms, function assessments, and certain subparameters of the quality of life scale (P < 0.05). The continuous ultrasound group had significantly greater improvements in pain at rest (P < 0.05). However, no statistically significant differences were observed in the other parameters (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Continuous ultrasound therapy is more efficient in reducing pain at rest for myofascial pain syndrome patients than is sham or pulsed ultrasound therapy.