Indian Journal of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy - An International Journal

Background & Objective: Loss of medial longitudinal arch or excessive pronation of the subtalar and midtarsal joints is associated with abnormal biomechanics and leads to overuse injuries of the lower limb. These injuries tend to occur gradually over a period of time as a result of soft tissue creep and hysterisis from repeated loading. The intrinsic and extrinsic foot muscles work out of phase and prolong their activity in order to stabilize the foot. Physiotherapy treatment involves the application of anti-pronation taping and temporary orthotics in order to alleviate patient's symptoms. Low Dye taping generates a supinating force and is designed to support the medial longitudinal arch. Temporary foot orthosis also has an anti-pronation effect and has been extensively used. Thus this study aimed to compare and analyze the EMG activity of Tibialis Anterior and Peroneus Longus with modified Low Dye taping as opposed to with medial arch support.

Method: This study included 30 individuals with flexible flat feet with a navicular drop of more than 10mm, selected randomly, of age group between 18 to 26 years. EMG activity of Tibialis Anterior and Peroneus Longus was recorded and analysed, first with the application of modified Low Dye taping and then with medial arch support, in single limb stance position.

Results: The recorded data was then subjected to statistical analysis. ANOVA of the mean amplitude of the muscles with modified Low Dye taping and medial arch support revealed a p-value of 0.000, which is a highly significant relationship. Pairwise comparison of the mean amplitude of muscles by the Bonferroni test, between taping and medial arch support showed a highly significant difference, with a p-value of 0.000.

Interpretation and Conclusion: this study revealed that the mean amplitude of the muscles was significantly reduced with both forms of intervention. However when comparing modified Low Dye taping procedure to medial arch support, the mean amplitude was significantly lower with the former than the latter. Thus we can conclude that modified Low Dye taping is more effective in controlling the muscle activity associated with excessive pronation than medial arch support.