Comparative Effectiveness of Six Weeks of Eccentric Exercise With or Without Taping Technique on Grip Strength, Extension Strength of the Wrist Extensors and Middle Finger in Female Athletes with Tennis Elbow

Background and Objective: Eccentric exercises and taping have been claimed to be an efficient method to improve the symptoms of tennis elbow. The objective of this study was to compare the effect of the implementation of a six-week-eccentric training program with and without taping on grip strength, wrist and middle finger extension in female athletes with tennis elbow. Materials and Methods: Forty-five female athletes with tennis elbow in age range of 35 to 50 years participated in this study. After the measurement of grip strength by dynamometer (Yagummy), extension strength of middle finger and wrist with handheld dynamometer (Lafayette) were measured. Subjects were assigned to two groups of practice (N=15) and control (N=15[L1] ). Eccentric exercises mainly were performed by Flexbar (Thraband product). Elbow diamond taping technique was used. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 21 and significance level of 0.05 (P=0.05) was considered in the analysis of the collected data. Results: The study showed differences between pre-test and post-test scores of grip strength (P=0.001). However, there was not any significant differences between pre-test and post-test results in wrist extension strength (P=0.504) and the middle finger extension variables (P=0.96). Bonferroni test results also showed that there was no statistically significant difference between the effects of eccentric exercises with or without taping (P=0.818). Conclusion: The eccentric exercises and combined exercises (eccentric exercises and taping) can possibly enhance strength and increase performance in rehabilitation of patients with tennis elbow.