Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Case Study: The Long-Term Effects of Kinesio Tape on Hallux Valgus - Week 0

This past weekend I took the final of three courses in Kinesio taping.  A couple of weeks from now, I will hopefully have taken and passed the test for certification.  (Which means I can add "CKTP" behind my name.  Not gonna lie, I'm kind of excited about that.)

Over the course of the weekend, I decided to do a case study/experiment with the taping.  I'm excited that the subject of my study is...me!  (There's gonna be a great deal of excitement in this post...)

I have weird toes.  They've been this way as long as I can remember.  My big toes point outward instead of straight ahead.  See?


The technical term for this is "hallux valgus," which I more commonly refer to as "crooked toes."  I don't know if I inherited this trait, or if it's a combination of being a toe-walker and running around barefoot my whole life.  (I can safely say it's certainly not from wearing too many tight pairs of high heels.)  They don't really cause me any problems, except some occasional soreness after running longer distances.  But I could eventually end up with painful bunions, which does not sound all that exciting to me.

Anyway, I'm going to see if Kinesio taping my toes for a length of time will correct and reverse the crookedness.  The instructor of my course told about some women with this same condition who managed to change the bone structure of their toes after only two months of taping, which they evidenced by x-rays.  I don't expect a complete correction of my toes, but I do wonder if I can permanently alter the valgus angle by a few degrees.  Here comes the technical information:

11/21/11 - Starting Measurements

Left (L) metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint:  35 degrees valgus
Right (R) metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint:  30 degrees valgus

Taping Technique







Measurements After Taping

L MTP:  15 degrees valgus
R MTP:  20 degrees valgus

It just now dawned on me that this will be the most boring blog post some of you have ever read and that not everyone shares the same happiness over seeing my toes taped.  I apologize.  I'm posting anyway.

Anyway, if you happen to still be paying attention, you will have noticed that the tape decreased the valgus angle of both toes.  Not enough to make them completely straight, but enough to make a significant difference in the joint alignment.  I'm hoping that, over the course of a few months, my foot muscles will be retrained enough to hold my toes in a slightly better position and maybe even change the bone structure.

Enough geeking.  I'll try to post an update every few weeks for your reading pleasure...or non-pleasure.  Mostly it's just more fun to blog about it than to write up a boring research paper.

8 comments:

  1. Love your post... You will have to let me know how your study turned out. I have heard great things about kinesio tape & got to try a little while in clinical. I want to take a course here soon as I believe it will be a great way to help our patients.

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  2. My big toes lean outwards, too. I just don't think the Kinesio method is going to do much for this particular foot deformity. Since I'm an adult and the bones have long fused and are rigid, I doubt that anything can force my big toes to point straight ahead. I love wearing sandals in the Summer, but I'm so self conscious. Most people don't notice, but there have been a few stares from people who happen to have nothing better to do I suppose. Anyway, I do what I can. I keep my tootsies clean, trimmed and polished. I'm looking into a splint to wear nightly to keep me from getting severe bunions. Sorry, unless someone can prove this tape actually works for Hallux Valgus, I won't be trying it.

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  3. How are you doing now?

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  4. Sorry for the slow edit and reply on your last comment! I haven't been frequenting my blog page much lately. My toes are back to their previous angles and measurements. I had noticed the change only as long as I was applying the tape regularly, but after a few weeks or months w/o it I was back to "normal."

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  5. I wouldn't expect taping to fix your toes like braces realign teeth, but im wondering if it helped with foot pain.

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  6. Yes, this taping can help with pain, especially if bunion pain is an issue. I personally don't have pain with my feet, but I have a coworker who does have bunion pain and has done this same taping. She doesn't do it often, but it provides some relief when she does use it.

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  7. Hi. I literally JUST taped my bunions. I've been getting into the routine of running and my bunions have been really aching. Which makes me sad, since I feel they areally the only thing really holding me back from doing a continuous run. Anyway... I just taped them. And I can feel my bunions pulsating. I was wondering if you experienced that ashe well. I checked to make sure the tape isn't too tight. I thought maybe it was just because my feet are used to being aligned like that... not suse if it's bad or not though..

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  8. Hi Melanie! No, I didn't not feel any pain when I taped my feet, but I also didn't have any pain to start with. You could very well be feeling pain because, like you said, that's the alignment your feet are used to. Changing the alignment affects all kinds of things, including how the joints interact with each other and how the muscles and tendons pull on the bones. The pain may improve as you continue taping and your feet adjust...or it may not. I hope you can find something that allows you to run pain-free!

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