Ben is a podiatrist and competes in triathlons. He uses Rocktape on his patients in his clinic, Stepahead Podiatry in Rockingham, www.stepaheadpodiatry.com.au and has trialled various applications on himself – recently using Rocktape on his Achilles tendinopathy injury enabling him to get through the Busselton half ironman in May.
Ben was first introduced to Rocktape in September 2010 and immediately started using it as another tool in his tool kit for treating patients. After having some successful trials he had a desire to learn more about this new breed of sports tape and the taping applications which are quite different to traditional rigid tape, so he recently attended a half day seminar specifically for podiatrists – where the focus was on lower limb applications.
When armed with more knowledge on the many taping applications for Rocktape applicable to podiatrists, Ben has achieved some great results. He recently contacted us and gave us some great feedback on the “jelly fish” application. “I used Rocktape on a severely damaged ankle to avert the need for surgery. The ankle injury included chondral thinning of the anterolateral tibial plafond with subcortical sclerosis and marrow oedema, bone oedema at the fibular head, tearing of the ATFL and calcaneofibular lig, lobulated fluid collections consistent with two ganglions, peroneal sheath effusion and probable split in peroneus brevis tendon.” said Ben. “His treatment included ultrasound, dry needling and Rocktape until recently when I have started to mobilise the area too. He is at the gym, walking daily and looking at a return to work with no surgery as yet. His final surgical review is still to come though. The patient is stoked and telling everyone about Rocktape.”
I have just read Bed Trewben’s story on avoiding ankle surgery due to Rocktape. I think as qualified professionals we should be very careful about what we state is cause and effect with our treatments. As a single case, Ben can have no idea how much effect the Rocktape had as a component of his management, nor the dry needling, ultrasound or mobilisation. There is also a very tenable link between findings on MRI and symptoms within joints. Re-MRI the ankle – would it look any different?, and hence what was/ is the cause of his pain. Certainly the patient is happy, as his ankle is improving, and whether this is due to Ben’s prodiatry input or just an effect of time is impossible to say. I use kinesiology tape at times as part of management of injuries, but certainly cant say for sure how it makes a change, if any. The research paper on anterior knee pain sounds promising, but further details of the study are needed before evaluation of the quality of the study are made and conclusions made. Cheers
Craig Mansfield. APA Sports Physiotherapist
Hi Craig,
Thanks for your feedback regarding the most recent Rocktape newsletter.
With regard to the Rock Doc profile of Ben Trewben, we certainly did not imply that it was Rocktape alone that was responsible for the improvement noted in Ben’s patient. We are well aware that case studies do not provide solid scientific evidence and I agree that we cannot ascertain what intervention, if any, resulted in the improvement in the patient’s condition. I believe that this could be said of virtually all manual therapy interventions, many of which have little scientific evidence but are accepted as proven in therapy circles because of “tradition”- they have been used for years and escape much scrutiny, namely things like ultrasound or even spinal traction.
At Rocktape we are aware of the need for rigorous research to determine the reasons behind the benefits we see through the application of kinesiology tape. We are currently supporting several efficacy trials that are underway here, in the USA and the UK. These small studies are showing promising results and directing further research that will eventually result in larger RCT’s. Even though there is limited high level evidence at this time, many practitioners have seen enough improvements in certain patients’ conditions with the use of this tape, to feel that it is a worthwhile addition to their practice armoury, and accept that evidence will often follow but it is time consuming to conduct and publish. There are numerous research articles that have been published regarding kinesiology tape and we can provide a reference list if you were interested.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Regards,
Steve