Effects of neuromuscular taping as an independent or complementary method to physiotherapeutic treatment in the management of cervical pain

Introduction: Neck pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal pathologies. There is, however, no evidence of the effectiveness of neuromuscular taping versus physiotherapy, or of their combined therapy. Objectives: To analyze: the effects of taping compared with those of a physiotherapy program; and the additional benefits that could be obtained if these two therapies were combined in the management of neck pain. Methodology: A total of 60 patients diagnosed with cervical pain were selected and a quasi-experimental pre-post parallel, four-arm simple blind design was utilized: physiotherapy alone; taping alone; physiotherapy plus taping; and taping plus physiotherapy. The effects were estimated, using fixed effects models, for pain at rest, on palpation and in movement. Results: The greatest intra-individual change was found with physiotherapy (β=−1.81; CI95%: −2.69 to −0.93), followed by the physiotherapy plus taping (β=−1.57; CI95%: −2.32 to −0.83), then taping plus physiotherapy (β=−1.29; CI95%: −1.98 to −0.60). Taping alone, however, achieved only a marginally significant reduction (β=−0.50; CI95%: −1.11 to 0.10). Regarding palpation pain, a statistically significant reduction was only observed for physiotherapy (β=−0.84; CI95%: −1.56 to −0.11) and physiotherapy plus taping (β=−0.52; CI95%: −1.09 to 0.04). Finally, for movement pain, a statistically significant reduction for physiotherapy was observed (β=−1.28; CI95%: −2.02 to −0.55) and very similar reductions were observed for physiotherapy plus taping and taping plus physiotherapy. Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, physiotherapy would be the most effective treatment for cervical pain.