A study to determine the efficacy of chiropractic manipulation combined with Kinesiotaping in the treatment of chronic lower back pain

Chronic lower back pain is a very common condition affecting 60-80% of the worlds’ population at sometime in their lives. Manual therapy, including chiropractic manipulation, has been proven to be very successful in the treatment of chronic lower back pain and reduction in muscle tension.

Although chiropractic treatment alone is effective in the treatment of chronic lower back pain, chiropractors often search for adjunctive modalities to enhance the positive outcomes of their treatment. Kinesio® tape application to the lumbar para-spinal muscles has been proven to be effective in increasing lumbar range of motion and in decreasing lower back pain.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the combination of Chiropractic manipulation and Kinesio® taping of the lumbar para-spinals is a more efficient, and possibly effective, treatment protocol in the treatment of chronic lower back pain.

Method: This study was a comparative study and consisted of three groups of ten participants. The participants were between the ages of eighteen and forty years of age, with a male to female ration of 1:1. The potential participants were examined and accepted according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Group 1 received chiropractic manipulative therapy to the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints. Group 2 only received the application of Kinesio® tape to the lumbar para-spinal muscles. Group 3 was the combination group, and received chiropractic manipulative therapy to the lumbar spine and sacroiliac joints together with the application of Kinesio® tape to the lumbar para-spinal muscles. Subjective measurements consisted of the Numerical Pain Rating Scale and the Oswestry Pain and Disability Index and objective measurements was range of motion of the lumbar spine.

Procedure: Treatment consisted of seven consultations over a three week period. Objective and subjective readings were taken at the beginning of the first, fourth and seventh consultations before treatment. Subjective readings were taken from the Numerical Pain Rating scale and the Oswestry Pain and Disability index.Objective Readings were taken from measurements taken from the Digital Inclinometer device measuring lumbar range of motion. At the first to sixth consultation participants each received their groups’ specific treatment protocol, the seventh consultation consisted of data collection only.