EFFECTS OF KINESIO TAPING ON POSTURAL STABILITY IN YOUNG SOCCER PLAYERS

MUSTAFA GULSEN¹, NIHAN OZUNLU PEKYAVAS², EMINE ATICI³, FATMA NESE SAHIN⁴, ÖZKAN GÜLER⁴

¹Baskent University, Vocational School of Health Sciences, Department of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 06810, Ankara, Turkey - ²Baskent University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, 06810, Ankara, Turkey - ³Okan University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, İstanbul, Turkey - ⁴Ankara University, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Ankara, Turkey

Background: This study aims to investigate the effects of Kinesio Taping on postural stability in young soccer players.

Methods: 62 volunteer soccer players from Cayyolu Sports Club were included in our study. Players were randomly allocated into two groups; a Kinesio taping (KT) (n=31), and a control group (n = 31). KT application including gastrocnemius and quadrice- ps femoris muscle facilitation techniques were applied to the first group. The second group was set as the control group and no appli- cation was made. Sociodemographic characteristics, postural stability and thermographic assessment were evaluated prior to and after the application of the Kinesio Taping. All the statistical analyses were set a priori at an alpha level of p<0.05. The tests for homogeneity (Levene’s test) and normality (Shapiro-Wilk) were used to determine the appropriate statistical methods to apply for comparison between the groups. According to the test results, the parametric paired sample T-test was used to compare between baseline and post-treatment within a group, while independent sample T-test for equality of means was used for comparison between the groups.

Results: No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups at baseline regarding age, body mass index, skin temperature and postural stability (p > 0.05). Statistically significant differences were found in all the assessed parameters in both Kinesio Taping and control groups (all p<0.05) except thermal imaging of dominant gastrocnemius muscle results (p=0.668) after the Kinesio application. Statistically significant differences were found in all parameters across groups (all p<0.05).

Conclusions: Kinesio Taping may increase postural stability and decrease the risk of injury. According to thermal imaging assessments, both quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles may be active in maintaining postural stability. As the decreasing risk of injury is very important for young soccer players, our results may show a preventive measure for sports physiotherapists working on soccer fields.