The Effect of Kinesio-Taping on Mild Ankle Instability in Recreational Runners

Running as a recreational sport has been considered a very popular sport that has been practiced by people of both genders and in different age groups. This sport does not need a special place or equipment for practice, this advantage further increased its popularity, as well as, it has a great effect on physical and mental health and decreases the mortality rate by 25-40%. Running is contributing to lowering body fats, reduction of weight, increase of lean body mass, improving resting heart rate, enhancing cardiovascular fitness, and helping in the cessation of smoking.

The incidence of people who practice running as an activity is high in European civilization as it reaches up to 12.5-31% of the population. Recreational runners might be at high risk for running-related injuries as reported 6.3 injuries per 1000 training hours in comparison to 3.4 injuries in the other types of sports activities.

It is worth mentioning that, the prevalence of studies for running-related injuries increases with time. Studies have identified the incidence of injuries extends from 25%-85% in running activities. The ankle joint occupies the second place, after the knee joint, as the most vulnerable joint to injury during running. These numbers indicate the importance of injury prevention and emphasize the methods that help in the reduction of recurrence as it was recorded the average time for recovery is 72 days which means a long period of caseation of all activities and a burden on the economy.

While most of the running-related injuries are either gradually onset or due to overuse, sudden ankle injuries might also occur. One of the most common ankle injuries is the lateral sprains of the sub-talar joint. This injury may lead to trauma to the soft tissues and bony components and consequently affect the function of the injured joint.

Ankle sprain causes a decrease in postural stability and neuromuscular control due to improper somatosensory functioning which is linked to this injury on both sides of the lower limbs either on the affected or non-affected one. postural stability is one of the major functions that depend mainly on the cues originating from proprioceptors. Cutaneous stimulation, especially skin stretching, has been considered as an influential factor in joint proprioception. More accurate joint position sense was reported when the skin was stimulated.