Influence of Mulligan Ankle Taping on Functional Performance Tests in Healthy Athletes and Athletes With Chronic Ankle Instability

Context: Ankle sprains or chronic ankle instability (CAI) is common in athletes and a common method for decreasing the effects of ankle instable is using tape. Objective: To determine whether Mulligan ankle taping (MAT) influenced the functional performance (FP) tests in athletes with and without CAI. Design: A cross-sectional study using a within-subject experimental design between four ankle conditions (taped and untaped, athletes with and without CAI). Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Sixteen professional athletes with unilateral CAI (10 men and 6 women; age 23.2 +/- 3 years, height 175.4 +/- 10.3 cm, weight 73 +/- 14.5 kg, and body mass index 23.8 +/- 3.6%) and 16 uninjured professional athletes (10 men and 6 women; age 22.8 +/- 1.7 years, height 173.6 +/- 12.2 cm, weight 66.4 +/- 11.4 kg, and body mass index 22.2 +/- 3.3%) volunteered to participant in this study. Intervention: Mulligan ankle taping. Main Outcome Measures: FP tests including single leg hopping course, Figure-of-8 hop and side hop were measured for both the groups in two conditions: taped and untaped. Results: There were significant differences between injured and uninjured athletes in all FP tests (P<.05). MAT significantly improved FP tests in both groups (P<.05). Conclusion: We found that MAT can improve FP tests in athletes with CAI and uninjured athletes. Therefore, it seems that MAT can be an effective method for enhancing athletes' performance in sports that require lateral movements.