EFFECTIVENESS OF KINESIO INSTRUMENT ASSISTED SOFT TISSUE MOBILIZATION AND TAPING AMONG SPRINTERS WITH CHRONIC ACHILLES TENDINOPATHY

Background: Achilles tendinopathy is the most frequently reported injury related to the ankle and foot common in runners and other sports activity. Chronic tendinopathy most often characterized by tendon degeneration and the area can be painful to touch. As a result the tendon goes for spasm and joint stiffness due to the force generated during toe off of the ground during running and it is transmitted by achilles tendon. This may lead to affect the performance in sprinters. Aim: The aim of this study is to find the effectiveness of Kinesio instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization and taping among sprinters with chronic achilles tendinopathy. Method: The study included 30 sprinters from Chennai who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The 20 meter yard test done to check the running performance for each sprinters and the pain was measured using numerical pain rating scale and functional disability was measured using lower extremity functional scale. Result: The results were analyzed using inferential statistics, t-test using intra-group analysis. The mean and standard deviation for 20-meter yard test 4.00 and 0.65. The mean and standard deviation for numeric pain rating scale will be 3.67 &0.88. The mean and standard deviation of lower extremity functional scale will be 68.53 & 6.11. The t- test for 20-meter, numeric pain rating scale & lower extremity functional scale are 11.79, 10.93 & 21.51. These have the significant at the level of p-valve = 0.000 < 0.05. Conclusion: The present study concludes that there is a significant effective in Kinesio instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization followed by taping on ankle range of motion, performance level and functional disability with chronic achilles tendinopathy among sprinters.