Assessment of Kinesio Taping Versus Phonophoresis for the Treatment of Painful Hallux Valgus: A Pilot Study

Background: Hallux valgus (HV) is a deformity that affects the quality of life and function in a negative manner causing disturbed balance and walking and even alters the foot kinemat-ics. Conservative treatments are the choice for mild to moderate HV, but the question about the best method has not been responded yet. In the current study, it is aimed to assess and compare the efficacy of kinesiotaping (KT) versus phonophoresis (PH) for the treatment of painful HV. Materials and Methods: This randomized clinical trial has been conducted on a total number of 37 toes (37 toes of a total number of 24 patients) randomly divided into two subgroups of either KT or PH with 1% hydrocortisone among which the total numbers of 31 toes from 20 patients fulfilled the study protocol. The variables including pain (using VAS score), function (using Manchester-Oxford Foot questionnaire)(MOXFD), hallux val-gus angle (HVA), and intermetatarsal angle (IMA) were assessed and compared between two groups before and after two months following the interventions. Results: The pain score de-creased significantly within the time in both groups (P-value<0.001), while the comparison of KT with PH revealed insignificant difference (P-value=0.08). MOXFD assessments showed significantly improved status within two months for both interventions (P-value<0.001) with no remarkable difference between the groups (P-value=0.55). The IMA and HVA altered fol-lowing both of the techniques. KT was superior to PH for the correction of HVA, but not for IMA (P-value>0.05). Conclusion: We found both of the KT and PH techniques could suc-cessfully rehabilitate the patients’ pain and improve function, however the KT was slightly better than PH due to HVA reduction.