Taping changes how knees feel, which might affect pain

BACKGROUND: Patella taping is a common treatment modality for physical therapists treating patellofemoral pain. However, the mechanisms of action remain unclear, with much debate as to whether its efficacy is due to a change in patellar alignment or an alteration in sensory input.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sensory input hypothesis using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) when taping was applied to the knee joint during a proprioception task.

DESIGN: An observational study with patellar taping intervention.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Eight healthy, right leg dominant male volunteers participated in a motor block design study. Each performed two right knee extension repetitive movement tasks; one simple and one proprioceptive. These tasks were performed with and without patellar taping and were auditorally paced for 400 s at 72 beats/min (1.2 Hz).

RESULTS: The proprioception task without patellar tape caused a positive Blood Oxygenation Level Dependant (BOLD) response bilaterally in the medial supplementary motor area (SMA), cingulate motor area (CMA), basal ganglion (BG) and thalamus and medial primary sensory motor cortex (SM1). For the proprioception task with patellar tape there was a decreased BOLD response in these regions. In the lateral primary sensory cortex (S1) there was a negative BOLD response with less activity for the proprioception task with tape.

LIMITATIONS: This study may be limited by a small sample size, a possible learning effect due to a non-random order of tasks and a single joint knee extension task.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that patellar taping modulates brain activity in several areas of the brain during a proprioception knee movement task.