The Effect of Scapular Taping on Functional

1
The Effect of Scapular Taping on Functional
Reach to Grasp An EMG and Kinematic Study S
Dalrymple, MA,PT,OCS EC Ross, PT, PhD (Program
in Physical Therapy, University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark NJ.)
Introduction Scapular taping is a commonly used
technique for treating shoulder pathology, and
there is anecdotal evidence that it is effective,
but little has be done to document the mechanism
of action of the taping techniques. Taping is
theorized to improve the position of the humeral
head and scapula, for the purpose of
neuromuscular retraining. Faulty posture of the
humeral head and scapula is thought to disrupt
the coordination of timing and amplitude control
of the shoulder girdle muscles, possibly leading
to impingement and other pathologies.
Hypothesis The authors hypothesized that in
subjects with forward shoulder posture, scapular
taping would improve the static position of the
scapula, alter the kinematics during a
reach-to-grasp activity, decrease over-activity
of the upper trapezius and increase activity of
other shoulder girdle muscles necessary for
coordinated movement.
Results Effect of tape on static scapula
posture Pectoralis Minor tightness correlated
positively with the static measurements of the
superior and medial scapular angles. Subjects
exhibiting pectoralis minor tightness had greater
excursion of the superior and medial angle away
from the thoracic midline(Table 1.) In those
subjects, the GHR tape condition significantly
reduced the inferior angle distance from the
thoracic midline as compared to no tape (plt.05)
Figure 1. UTI Tape
Figure 2. GHR Tape
Table 1 Correlation Between Pectoralis Minor
Muscle Tightness and Static Scapular Angle
Measurements

• Methods
• Subjects 7 females, adapted forward shoulder
  posture
• Subjects performed 3 repetitions of a reach to
  grasp activity above shoulder level in the
  scapular plane under 5 taping conditions
• No Tape (NT)
• Upper Trapezius Inhibitory Tape (UTI) (Fig. 1)
• Glenohumeral Repositioning Tape (GHR) (Fig. 2)
• Combined UTI and GHR (GHRUT) (Fig. 3)
• Post- tape (PT)
• Static forward shoulder posture was assessed
  before and after each tape application by
  measuring linear displacement of the superior,
  medial and inferior scapular angles from the
  midline of the thorax. Pectoralis minor and
  latissimus dorsi tightness was measured prior to
  taping.
• The following data were collected during the
  trials
• 3D kinematic data (markers on C7, T7, sternum,
  acromium, elbow, radial styloid of wrist, and
  iliac crest).
• sEMG from six muscles upper trapezius (UT),
  middle trapezius (MT), lower trapezius (LT),
  anterior deltoid (AD), middle deltoid (MD) and
  serratus anterior (SA)
• Dependent Variables Peak EMG amplitude, acromial
  elevation, shoulder elevation in the scapular
  plane, peak wrist velocity and peak shoulder
  elevation velocity.
• Analsyes Data were analyzed using descriptive
  statistics, correlation and ANOVA for repeated
  measures.

Figure 3. GHRUT Tape
Effect of tape on kinematics during
reach-to-grasp activity Only the GHR taping
affected kinematics. Peak shoulder velocity was
significantly decreased with GHR (plt.05)(Fig. 4).
Taping had no significant effect on acromial
elevation, shoulder elevation or peak wrist
velocity
Effect of tape on muscle recruitment during
reach-to-grasp activity Only GHR taping
significantly affected muscle recruitment. LT and
SA muscles had increased non-normalized EMG
amplitudes with the GHR tape condition (plt.05)
(Figs. 5 and 6) There was a decrease in UT
activity with UTI taping, although it was not
significant. One possible explanation for this
unexpected result is that these subjects with
forward shoulder posture but no shoulder pain or
pathology did not use excessive scapular
elevation during the reaching task, thus there
was little excessive UT recruitment to decrease.
Figure 4. Effect of Tape Condition on Peak
Shoulder Velocity
Conclusion Glenohumeral taping can change
scapular positioning, muscle recruitment
patterns and reduce peak shoulder velocity. These
results indicate that scapular taping may be a
useful clinical tool for improving scapular
posture and muscle recruitment during reaching in
persons with forward shoulder posture. Since FSP
is theorized to promote secondary impingement
problems, this taping intervention might prevent
such pathology
Figure 5. Effect of Tape Conditions on Serratus
Anterior Activity
Figure 6. Effect of Tape Conditions on Lower
Trapezius Activity