Research in Sport Medicine and Technology

Introduction: This research aimed to compare two methods of kinesiotaping
and stretching of upper trapezius muscle in treatment of neck pain due to
forward head posture.
Research Methods: Design of this research was semi-experimental. 36
subjects (29 female and 7 men) with forward head posture between 20-40 years
of age with no history of neck pain due to vertebral fracture, disc herniation,
tumors, radicular pain to hands and arthritis rheumatoid were selected for this
research and assigned randomly into 2 groups with 18 subjects. One group
received kinesiotaping treatment and the other group received stretching upper
trapezius muscle treatment. Subjects received 10 treatment sessions 3 times
per week. All subjects completed visual analog scale (VAS) and neck disability
index (NDI) pre and post-tests. The data were analyzed with significant level of
p≤0/05. Data were analyzed by SPSS 15. Statistical paired t- test were used to
analyze effects of kinesiotaping and stretching of upper trapezius muscle in
reduction of neck pain and disability due to forward head posture in each group
and independent t- test were used to compare the kinesiotaping with stretching
of upper trapezius muscle in reduction of neck pain and disability due to forward
head posture.

Results: The results of the present research indicated that there is a significant
reduction in severity of neck pain and disability in both groups (P<0.05), But
there is no significant difference between two groups in severity of neck pain
and disability (P>0.05).
Conclusion: This research showed that either kinesiotaping or stretching of
upper trapezius muscle reduced severity of neck pain and disability due to
trigger points of upper trapezius muscle significantly. Also findings of this
research showed that there is no significant difference between kinesiotaping or
stretching of upper trapezius muscle in reduction of severity of neck pain and
disability. Therefore kinesiotaping can be used in case of vigorous pain either in
patient under other treatment methods or in patient who cannot tolerate
techniques like stretching or ischemic pressure until tolerable pain threshold.