Effects of Kinesio Tapping on Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms in Type II Diabetes

Abstract Background: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major health concern in the 21st century. Diabetes' most common compli-cation is diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Physiotherapy and Kinesio tapping help diabetics relieve pain, improve quality of life, and reduce opioid dependency. Aim of Study: Was to evaluate the effect of Kinesio taping on peripheral neuropathy symptoms in patients with type II diabetes. Material and Methods: Sixty adult diabetic patients who were diagnosed with peripheral polyneuropathy since 7 years of both sexes (28 male and 32 female) participated in this study. Their age ranged from 50- and 60 years. The participants were selected from The National Institute of Diabetes and Endocrinology in Cairo, Egypt. The practical work was done from May 2021 to January 2022. Patients were randomly distributed into two equal groups in number. Group (A): (Study group) consisted of thirty patients (12 male and 18 female) treated by Kinesio taping in addition to traditional exercise therapy. The 12-week traditional exercise program consisted of 3 sessions per week and Kinesio taping was applied once a week. Group (B): (Control group) consisted of thirty patients (16 male and 14 female) who were treated with traditional exercise therapy of both lower limbs; The programmes were run three times a week for a total of 12 weeks. The evaluation was done by testing muscle tone before and after the treatment and the following questionnaires; visual analog scale for pain (VAS), neuropathy symptom score (NSS), and Neuropathy disability score (NDS), and functional screening. Results: Group A (study group) was higher the overall improvement for VAS, NSS, NDS and FMS with percentage by 73.07% than group B (control group) by 28.62. Conclusion: Kinesio tapping is effective when added to the traditional exercise therapy for polyneuropathy diabetic patients.