Comparison of Two Different Kinesiotaping Techniques on Moderate to Severe Hallux Valgus: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Moderate to severe hallux valgus causes pain in the foot, balance deficits, gait impairments and eventually falls. With a chronic progressive onset the severity of hallux valgus increases. Regular kinesiotaping delivered will not be able to correct all biomechanical changes of foot. To check if modified kinesiotaping is able to address this problem, highlights the need of the present study. Aim: The study aimed to compare the effect of two different kinesiotaping techniques on angle of hallux valgus, medial arch, great toe pronation, and balance (static and dynamic). Materials and Methods: The present pilot study with 20 young adults having moderate to severe hallux valgus were selected from Outpatient department of Dr. D.Y. Patil College of Physiotherapy, Pune, Maharashtra, India, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. The study duration was six months from September 2019 to February 2020. Demographic data includes age, gender, body mass index and side affected with hallux valgus. Both genders, with ages between 18 to 65 years, not undergoing any other intervention and having hallux valgus angle 20-40, i.e., moderate and >40, i.e., severe, were included in the study. For a total sample size of 20, subjects were divided into two groups based on convenience sampling. Group A was given Toe Spread Out (TSO) exercise and modified kinesiotaping technique while Group B was given TSO exercise and kenzo kase kinesiotaping technique. The treatment was given for two weeks, and taping was performed five times during the given period. Subjects were reassessed post two weeks of session. Hallux valgus angle, pes planus, great toe pronation and balance were assessed by joint protractor app, navicular drop test and Neurocom balance master, respectively, at baseline and after two weeks of treatment. For normally distributed data paired t-test and independent student t-test was used for intragroup and intergroup comparison. If the data is not normally distributed then Wilcoxon test for intragroup and Mann Whitney for Intergroup was used. Results: According to present study findings there was statistically significant difference for hallux valgus angle (p=0.046), navicular drop (p=0.003), and great toe rotation (p=0.038) was noted. Conclusion: The findings of this study strongly support the use of the modified taping technique in moderate to severe hallux valgus over the Kenso-kase taping technique. Furthermore, the correction of navicular drop and great toe pronation has an additional positive impact on the improvement in hallux valgus.