Similar effects of two different external supports on wrist joint position sense in healthy subjects: A randomized...

The hand is one of the most injured organs. Proprioceptive rehabilitation decreases the incidence of injury while using external supports can increase proprioception. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of taping and elastic bandaging on wrist joint position sense (proprioception) in healthy individuals. Sixty-eight healthy students were included in our study and randomized into two groups. External supports were to apply to the dominant hand for 24hours in both groups. Joint position sense was evaluated with an angle reproduction test before applying the external support and 20 minutes after and then 24hours later with the external support and after removing it. There were significant improvements in joint position sense 20 minutes after applying the external support and 24hours later (P<0.05). Although a significant decrease in joint position sense was observed after removing the external support compared to while wearing it (P<0.05), there was a significant improvement in the joint position sense relative to the pre-study assessment (P<0.05). In between group comparisons, the only significant difference was observed 20 minutes after the external support was applied: the taping group had better results in joint flexion position sense than the bandaging group (P<0.05), but in the other assessments there were no significant differences between two groups (P>0.05). It was found that two different types of external support can improve the wrist joint's position sense in healthy subjects. These procedures can be used as a supplemental treatment in wrist rehabilitation.