The influence of Mulligan ankle taping during balance performance in subjects with unilateral chronic ankle instability
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 18, 2026
Evaluating Postural Control and Lower-extremity Muscle Activation in Individuals with Chronic Ankle Instability
Published on: September 18, 2020
Diana Hopper1, Karin Samsson, Tobias Hulenik
1Curtin University of Technology, School of Physiotherapy, Bentley, Australia. d.hopper@curtin.edu.au
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 (10s); postural sway recovery patterns after a 30s functional hop test (immediately, 30 and 60s); 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.
