Highlights
- •Small decrease in extensor digitorum activity with multidirectional elastic tape.
- •Small decrease in extensor carpi ulnaris activity with multidirectional elastic tape.
- •Extensor carpi radialis activity was not altered by multidirectional elastic tape.
- •Wrist extension angle was not altered by multidirectional elastic tape.
Abstract
Background
Lateral elbow tendinopathy is associated with changes to forearm muscle activity and
wrist posture during gripping. Multidirectional elastic tape is thought to exert a
deloading effect on underlying musculotendinous structures, which could potentially
alter muscle activity or wrist posture.
Methods
This single-blinded randomised crossover trial compared the immediate effects of tensioned
multidirectional elastic tape, untensioned control tape, and no tape, in individuals
with lateral elbow tendinopathy. Muscle activity of extensor carpi radialis longus
and brevis, extensor carpi ulnaris, and extensor digitorum and wrist extension angle
were recorded during a submaximal gripping task. Muscle activity was normalised to
the maximum amplitude recorded during maximal grip. Change scores were calculated
(post-condition minus baseline). Repeated-measure analyses of variance were used to
examine between-condition differences.
Findings
27 participants (16 males, mean age (SD): 48.6 (11.9) years) underwent all conditions.
Extensor digitorum muscle activity was reduced during the multidirectional elastic
tape, compared to control tape and no tape (MD −5.6% [95%CI: −9.9 to −1.3], MD −5.8%
[95%CI: −10.2 to −1.4], respectively). Extensor carpi ulnaris muscle activity was
reduced during the multidirectional elastic tape, compared to the control tape (mean
difference [MD] −3.2% [95%CI: −5.3 to −1.1]), but increased during the control tape,
compared to the no tape (MD 2.9% [95%CI: 0.8 to 5.0]). No differences were observed in extensor carpi radialis brevis or longus muscle
activity, or extension wrist angle between conditions.
Interpretation
A decreased in extensor carpi ulnaris and extensor digitorum muscle activity during
multidirectional elastic tape may be evidence of a deloading effect during submaximal
gripping.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Clinical BiomechanicsAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Upper limb muscle imbalance in tennis elbow: a functional and electromyographic assessment.J. Orthop. Res. 2007; 25: 1651-1657https://doi.org/10.1002/jor.20458
- Assessment of functional recovery in tennis elbow.J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol. 2009; 19: 631-638https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2008.01.008
- Unreported formal assessment of unblinding occurred in 4 of 10 randomized clinical trials, unreported loss of blinding in 1 of 10 trials.J. Clin. Epidemiol. 2017; 81: 42-50https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.08.002
- Consensus for experimental design in electromyography (cede) project: amplitude normalization matrix.J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol. 2020; 102438https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2020.102438
- Bilateral sensorimotor abnormalities in unilateral lateral epicondylalgia.Arch. Phys. Med. Rehabil. 2006; 87: 490-495https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2005.11.029
- Mobilisation with movement and exercise, corticosteroid injection, or wait and see for tennis elbow: randomised trial.Br. Med. J. 2006; 333: 939https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38961.584653.AE
- Immediate effects of 2 types of braces on pain and grip strength in people with lateral epicondylalgia: a randomized controlled trial.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2014; 44: 120-128https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2014.4744
- Impairment assessment of lateral epicondylitis through electromyography and dynamometry.J. Can. Chiropr. Assoc. 2011; 55: 96-106
- Blinding was judged more difficult to achieve and maintain in nonpharmacologic than pharmacologic trials.J. Clin. Epidemiol. 2004; 57: 543-550https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2003.12.010
- Upper limb position affects pain-free grip strength in individuals with lateral elbow tendinopathy.Physiother. Res. Int. 2021; (n/a(n/a))https://doi.org/10.1002/pri.1906
- Thermal hyperalgesia distinguishes those with severe pain and disability in unilateral lateral epicondylalgia.Clin. J. Pain. 2012; 28: 595-601https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0b013e31823dd333
- Effect of corticosteroid injection, physiotherapy, or both on clinical outcomes in patients with unilateral lateral epicondylalgia: a randomized controlled trial.J. Am. Med. Assoc. 2013; 309: 461-469https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.129
- Filtering the surface emg signal: movement artifact and baseline noise contamination.J. Biomech. 2010; 43: 1573-1579https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.01.027
- Consort 2010 statement: extension to randomised crossover trials.BMJ. 2019; 366l4378https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l4378
- A dynamic extensor brace reduces electromyographic activity of wrist extensor muscles in patients with lateral epicondylalgia.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2006; 36: 170-178https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2006.2165
- The influence of simultaneous handgrip and wrist force on forearm muscle activity.J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol. 2019; 45: 53-60https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2019.02.004
- Sticking to the facts: a systematic review of the effects of therapeutic tape in lateral epicondylalgia.Phys. Ther. Sport. 2019; 40: 117-127https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2019.08.011
- Violation of the sphericity assumption and its effect on type-i error rates in repeated measures anova and multi-level linear models (mlm).Front. Psychol. 2017; 8: 1841https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01841
- Forearm muscle activity is modified bilaterally in unilateral lateral epicondylalgia: a case-control study.Scand. J. Med. Sci. Sports. 2016; 26: 1382-1390https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.12584
- Is synergistic organisation of muscle coordination altered in people with lateral epicondylalgia? A case-control study.Clin. Biomech. 2016; 35: 124-131https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2016.04.017
- Forearm muscle activity in lateral epicondylalgia: a systematic review with quantitative analysis.Sports Med. 2016; 46: 1833-1845https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-016-0539-4
- Evaluating the immediate effect of forearm and wrist orthoses on pain and function in individuals with lateral elbow tendinopathy: a systematic review.Musculoskelet. Sci. Pract. 2020; 47102147https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2020.102147
- Seniam: European Recommendations for Surface Electromyography.Roessingh Research and Development, 1999
- Therapeutic tape use for lateral elbow tendinopathy: a survey of australian healthcare practitioners.Musculoskelet. Sci. Pract. 2020; 48102160https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msksp.2020.102160
- Moving differently in pain: a new theory to explain the adaptation to pain.Pain. 2011; 152: S90-S98https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2010.10.020
- Deloading tape reduces muscle stress at rest and during contraction.Med. Sci. Sports Exerc. 2014; 46: 2317-2325https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000363
- The reliability of one vs. three trials of pain-free grip strength in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis.J. Hand Ther. 2010; 23: 384-391https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jht.2010.05.002
- Upper-limb disorders in repetitive work.Scand. J. Work Environ. Health. 2001; : 268-278https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.614
- Joint Structure and Function: A Comprehensive Analysis.5th ed. FA Davis Co, Philadelphia2011
- Chronic pain alters spatiotemporal activation patterns of forearm muscle synergies during the development of grip force.J. Neurophysiol. 2017; 118: 2132-2141https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.00210.2017
- Lateral epicondylalgia exhibits adaptive muscle activation strategies based on wrist posture and levels of grip force: a case-control study.J. Musculoskelet. Nueronal Interact. 2018; 18: 323
- Is it all about controlling load?.J. Bodyw. Mov. Ther. 2016; 20: 179-188https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2015.12.009
- Crosstalk in surface electromyography of the proximal forearm during gripping tasks.J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol. 2003; 13: 63-71https://doi.org/10.1016/s1050-6411(02)00071-8
- The effects of posture on forearm muscle loading during gripping.Ergonomics. 2003; 46: 956-975https://doi.org/10.1080/0014013031000107595
- The relationship between wrist position, grasp size, and grip strength.J. Hand Surg. 1992; 17: 169-177https://doi.org/10.1016/0363-5023(92)90136-d
- Implications of chance baseline differences in repeated measurement designs.J. Biopharm. Stat. 1994; 4: 199-216https://doi.org/10.1080/10543409408835083
- Icon part-t 2019-international scientific tendinopathy symposium consensus: recommended standards for reporting participant characteristics in tendinopathy research (part-t).Br. J. Sports Med. 2019; https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2019-100957
- Time for some a priori thinking about post hoc testing.Behav. Ecol. 2008; 19: 690-693https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arn020
- Diagnostic accuracy of provocative tests in lateral epicondylitis.Int. J. Physiother. Res. 2014; 2: 815-823https://doi.org/10.16965/ijpr.2014.699
- Claims incidence of work-related disorders of the upper extremities: Washington state, 1987 through 1995.Am. J. Public Health. 1998; 88: 1827-1833https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.88.12.1827
- Sensory and motor effects of experimental muscle pain in patients with lateral epicondylalgia and controls with delayed onset muscle soreness.Pain. 2005; 114: 118-130https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2004.12.003
- Surface electromyography in sports and exercise.in: Türker H. Electrodiagnosis in New Frontiers of Clinical Research. IntechOpen, 2013
- The application of an external wrist extension force reduces electromyographic activity of wrist extensor muscles during gripping.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2004; 34: 228-234https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2004.34.5.228
- Tendinopathy: evidence-informed physical therapy clinical reasoning.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2015; 45: 816-818https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2015.0110
- Initial effects of elbow taping on pain-free grip strength and pressure pain threshold.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2003; 33: 400-407https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2003.33.7.400
- Computer use associated with poor long-term prognosis of conservatively managed lateral epicondylalgia.J. Orthop. Sports Phys. Ther. 2004; 34: 770-780https://doi.org/10.2519/jospt.2004.34.12.770
- Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis.Springer-Verlag, New York2016
- Changes in muscle geometry during forearm pronation and supination and their relationships to emg cross-correlation measures.J. Electromyogr. Kinesiol. 2013; 23: 664-672https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2013.01.001
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 25, 2022
Accepted:
October 21,
2022
Received:
June 29,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
