The Immediate Effect of Taping and Counterforce Brace on Pain and Grip Strength in Patients with Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow (TE) is a common strain injury or microtrauma that causes sore and tender around the outside of the elbow. Using orthotic devices is one way for rehabilitating this condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the immediate effects of taping technique (TT) and counterforce brace (CB) on hand grip strength and pain in the patients with tennis elbow. In an experimental study with pre-test and post-test stages, 29 subjects with TT on their dominant arm were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: TT group (15 subjects) and CB group (14 subjects). The outcomes of the measurement consisted of pain in the lateral aspect of the elbow, as well as grip strength of hand before and 30 minutes after application of TT in one group and CB in another group. The visual analog scale (VAS) was used to assess pain and dynamometer was also utilized to evaluate grip strength. Following elbow taping, the pain was significantly lower than CB group (P = 0.004). However, grip strength with P = 0.06 showed no significant difference between the two groups. The results revealed a significant difference between after and before interventions, with increases in hand grip strength and wrist extension muscle force in TT and CB groups. According to these findings, the improvement of grip strength was not different between the two methods. However, it seems that TT was more effective than CB in the reduction of pain of lateral aspect related to the elbow in these patients.