Effect of elastic therapeutic taping combined with stretching on heel pain and foot disability in persons with plantar fasciitis

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of elastic therapeutic taping plus stretching compared with stretching exercise in persons with plantar fasciitis. A nonequivalent control group pretest posttest quasi-experimental design was used. A total of 18 subjects that participated in the study were divided into two groups. Nine subjects in the intervention group received elastic therapeutic taping combined with stretching, while nine subjects in the control group received only stretching program. Outcome measures including levels of heel pain and foot disability were collected at baseline and week 2 after the treatments completed. Paired t-test was used for within-group analysis, and Independent t-test was used for between-group analysis. Results showed that the level of heel pain in the morning, pain during the days, average pain last week, and foot disability decreased significantly in both groups (p<0.05). However, there was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of changes in pain intensity in all three pain measures. Interestingly, level of foot disability in the “taping and stretching” group decreased significantly greater than that in the “stretching” group (p<0.05). Therefore, apart from the effect on pain reduction, the elastic therapeutic taping could produce additional effect on promoting foot functional ability in persons with plantar fasciitis.