Kinesio taping in treatment and prevention of thumb overload in outpatient physiotherapy

Title : Kinesio taping in treatment and prevention of thumb overload in outpatient physiotherapy Purposes : The main purpose of this thesis was to evaluate a degree of pain decrease in thumb joint after kinesio tape application. The differences in grip strength were concurrently evaluated to objectify previous results. Hand dynamometer was used to support this claim. Methods : Data for the experiment were obtained by use of hand dynamometer measurement and record of a pain degree according to chosen pain scale. Each person was measured right before defined strain and immediately after it (daily work in outpatient therapy according to therapist's working shift). Each therapist was asked to record a degree of actual pain following the instructions during strain. All the results were processed and statistically analyzed. Results : The results show that kinesio tape is successful in decreasing of thumb joint pain. This was confirmed both during and after the strain. At the same time kinesio tape prevents decreasing of the grip strength. Keywords : Thumb, thumb joint, kinesio taping of a thumb, dynamometry, pain decrease of a thumb, overloading of a thum