Treatment of chronic Achilles tendon pain by Kinesio taping in an amateur badminton player

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effects of Kinesio taping on a patient with chronic Achilles tendon pain.

Design: Case report.

Case description: A 22-year-old male amateur badminton player slipped on the ground as he landed after jumping while playing badminton, resulting in chronic Achilles tendon pain of the dominant (right) leg. We performed Achilles tendon taping (ATT) over 5 weeks.

Results: The patient's ultrasonography showed that the tendon thickness was moderately reduced from 0.42 cm to 0.37 cm and that the angles of active dorsiflexion and active plantar flexion without pain increased from 15° to 20° and from 20° to 45°, respectively. The Victorian Institute of Sport Assessment-Achilles (VISA-A) questionnaire score increased from 64 to 95, and the load-induced pain assessment score decreased from 6 to 0. The pain threshold increased from 0.8 kg to 10 kg. The tenderness at 3 kg, assessed on a numeric rating scale, decreased from 7 to 0, and the patient was able to play badminton and soccer without pain.

Conclusions: We verified the effect with an increase in the active ankle joint range of motion and the VISA-A questionnaire score, which was achieved by a decrease in tenderness and pain from repeated ATT application.