The influence of Mulligan ankle taping during balance performance in subjects with unilateral chronic ankle instability

Objective: To determine whether Mulligan ankle tape influenced the performance in subjects with unilateral chronic ankle instability (CAI) during static balance; postural sway recovery patterns after hopping and dynamic tracking balance tasks.Design: A cross-sectional, within-subjects experimental study design between 4 ankle conditions (taped; untaped: injured and uninjured).Participants: 20 volunteer recreational athletes with unilateral CAI were recruited. Means and standard deviations highlighted the athletes' characteristics: age = 23 ± 1 years; height = 173.1 ± 2.4 cm; weight = 69.3±3 kg; Functional Ankle Disability Index (FADI) = 93.5 ± 5.1% and FADI Sport = 84.2 ± 9.4%.Interventions: Mulligan ankle taping.Main Outcome Measurements: Static balance (10 s); postural sway recovery patterns after a 30 s functional hop test (immediately, 30 and 60 s); dynamic tracking balance tasks (wandering, target overshoot and reaction-time).Results: Between the four conditions, static balance showed no significant differences (p = 0.792); significant changes occurred in postural sway over time (p < 0.001); no significant changes were reported for the dynamic tracking tasks. Wandering was highly correlated with reaction-time and overshooting (p < 0.01).Conclusion: Under resting and fatigued conditions, Mulligan ankle taping did not impact on the neuromuscular control during static and dynamic balance in subjects with healthy and unstable ankles.