Background & Aims: Grip strength plays a fundamental role in many daily activities of upper extremities. Reduced grip strength is common in patients with some musculoskeletal disorders in upper extremities. Kinesio TAPING of the forearm area might help to facilitate muscle contraction through stimulating the skin mechanoreceptors and consequently increasing sensory feedbacks around the taped area. This study aimed to find the best place and time for kinesio TAPING of the forearm in increasing hand grip strength.Methods: Using a simple non-randomized sampling method, 40 healthy subjects (20 males and 20 females) were recruited in this interventional study. First, the flexor, extensor and flexor/extensor muscle groups of the forearm were taped with a 50% stretched and I-shaped technique. A grip-meter device (MIE, UK) was used to measure the grip strength every half an hour during 2 hours and then the tape was removed from the skin. Changes of the hand grip strength before and after the TAPING were recorded and analyzed using Repeated Measure and One-Way ANOVA.Results: Mean age of participants was 22.3±2 years. Hand grip strength of males increased from 38.33±6.5 to 42.4±7.3 kg (P<0.05) and in females it increased from 19.3±4.5 to 23.5±4.3 kg (P<0.05). In addition, TAPING on the extensor region increased hand grip strength more than when it was used on the flexor or flexor/extensor regions (P<0.05). Furthermore, male subjects reached to the maximum hand grip strength (10.8% increase in force) in half an hour after TAPING while females reached to this point (23.9% increase in force) 1.5 hour after TAPING.Conclusion: Kinesio TAPING technique seemed to be effective in increasing hand grip strength of healthy individuals and the best region for tape application is the extensor region of the forearm. Although in females increase of hand grip strength occurs later than males, the rate of this increase is higher.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of corrective exercises and kinesio TAPING on the improvement of forward head improvement in female students. Methods: In this randomized quasi-experimental study, 30 girl students aged 7 to 13 years with forward head were randomly divided into two equal groups of exercises and kinesio TAPING. The refresher training group performed selective exercises for 6 weeks (three sessions per hour per week). The kinesio TAPING group obligated to use kinesio tape in the posterior part of the neck (along with the cervical vertebrae) for 6 weeks. The improvement of forward head was compared between the two groups. Findings: 6 weeks after intervention, the improvement of forward head in corrective exercises and kinesio TAPING groups was 13. 5% and 34. 5%, respectively, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0. 001). There was a significant difference between the effects of correction exercises and the use of kinesio tape on forward head improvement in favor of the kinesio TAPING group. Conclusion: The results show that both the correction exercises and the use of kinesio tape can reduce the angle of head forward. However, kinesio TAPING has a greater effect on forward head reduction. Therefore, kinesio TAPING and corrective exercises can be used to improve forward head.

Introduction: Treatment of forward head posture (FHP) is very important as it is the cause of muscle weaknesses and fatigues, decreased range of motions and impaired neck proprioception. So far, a number of interventions have been introduced for treating this disorder such as stabilization exercises. Though, until recently, the "tape" has not been used to treat this disorder. Hence, in this study we compared the effective ness of stabilization exercises and the tape in patients with FHP.Materials and Methods: Thirty-three females aged 18 - 40 years with FHP were randomly placed into three experimental groups including: stabilization exercises, tape, and no intervention (control) group. Participants were instructed to do stabilization exercises three times per week for 6 weeks. Tape was used on posterior neck and shoulder girdle. The degree of FHP which was measured by using plumb line and the craniovertebral angle was evaluated through lateral view photo taking before and after six weeks interventions and one month follow-up period.Results: Within group analysis revealed that stabilization exercises and TAPING were both effective in decreasing FH inclination and improvement of postural alignment (P <0.05). Between groups analysis showed no significant differences between stabilization exercises and TAPING (P >0.05). Consistency of interventions was evident between two groups after follow up (P >0.05).Conclusion: Stabilization exercises and TAPING are effective methods in FHP correction. In case of difficulty in accessing to clinical services or shortage of time for exercising, using TAPING alone with caution could be effective in treating FHP.

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of patellar TAPING on knee joint proprioception in two groups. This research was based on repeated measurement of quasi-experimental design and non-probability sampling. Active and passive angle reproduction and threshold were performed to detect passive movement on isokinetic dynamometer. After TAPING, evaluation of tests was repeated and it was found that TAPING could affect passive angle reproduction in 20-degree angle. Further studies are needed to investigate the effect of patellar TAPING on proprioception status of PFPS subjects.

Teacher supervision has been one of the most researched, though debated, topics in education over the past several decades (Baily, 2009). Conducting a high quality supervision can be of substantial assistance in improving teachers’ instructional performance. This study was conducted to investigate the comparative effects of using three supervision techniques of data gathering including field note, audioTAPING and video-TAPING on instructional performances of teachers and investigate the engaged parties’ (teachers’ and supervisors’ ) attitudes towards utilizing them in language teacher supervision. To this end, 12 novice teachers with less than one year of teaching experience and two experienced supervisors with 12 years of teaching and supervising experience participated in the study. The teachers were divided into three groups each supervised through one of the aforementioned techniques. The results revealed that video-TAPING technique of teacher supervision has the most significant effects on teachers’ instructional performance. Besides, teachers and supervisors have positive attitudes towards applying this technique for the data-gathering phase of supervision.