The clinical effect of kinesio taping combined with therapeutic exercise on elderly patients with hallux valgus
Objective To explore the effect of kinesio taping combined with therapeutic exercise on elderly patients with hallux valgus(HV).Methods Thirty-four HV patients over 60 years old were ran-domly selected from the rehabilitation clinic of Shanghai General Hospital and divided into an experi-mental group and a control group.The experimental group comprised 18 patients(8 males,10 fe-males;65.63±2.84 years),while the control group had 16 ones(8 males,8 females;66.09±4.11 years).Both groups underwent a 4-week therapeutic exercise including foot muscle stretching,fascial relaxation,muscle strength training and flexibility exercises,while the experimental group additionally received kinesio taping,using a Y-shaped tape and a lantern-shaped tape to stabilize the alignment of the first metatarsophalangeal joint,so as to enhance circulation and sensory input.Before and after the intervention,the Hallux valgus angle,visual analogue scale(VAS)score,ankle dorsiflexion plan-tarflexion angle,and timed up and go test parameters were recorded and compared between the two groups.Results After 4 weeks of intervention,there was a significant increase in the ankle dorsiflex-ion,plantarflexion and timed up and go test performance,but a significant decrease in the hallux val-gus angle and pain.Moreover,compared with the control group,after the intervention,the experimen-tal group showed a significantly smaller hallux valgus angle(P=0.03),and significantly better timed up and go test performance(P=0.01).Conclusion Therapeutic exercise combined with kinesio taping can further correct the hallux valgus angle and improve the walking function of patients.Therefore,such therapy is worth promoting in the clinical practice.