Effect of thoracic Kinesio taping on acute lumbar and leg pain in a pregnant woman: A case report

Summary Kinesio taping (KT) is a popular intervention among the physiotherapists since it facilitates the reduction of pain and improvement of activities. However, there is little evidence about the therapeutic application of KT in pregnant women. A 33-year-old woman with a history of one term normal vaginal delivery referred to us at the 26th weeks of her second pregnancy. Almost 2 months before her referral, she experienced constant pain in the legs, ankles, and lumbar. The patient also reported burning sensation and sweating in the sole of her feet and sleep disturbance. She had a painful functional impairment that made walking, standing, sitting, and personal activities difficult. The patient did not take any sedatives during pregnancy. Therefore, KT was applied to the lower thoracic region for 5 days at three times. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were utilized to assess pain-related disability in the patient. After KT application, both VAS and ODI scores showed a significant decrease. Furthermore, she reported a remarkable improvement in her walking ability, feet sweating, and sleep disturbance. The present case report explained the use of KT on the lower thoracic spine in a patient suffering from low back and leg pains, as well as burning sensation and sweating of the sole of feet during pregnancy. The results revealed an improvement in patient symptoms, which may be due to the application of KT on the lower thoracic region. It seemed that her symptoms were due to pregnancy-induced physiologic changes in the body and sympathetic nervous system (SNS) disorder. Based on this study, it can be concluded that KT is a safe and inexpensive technique that can be used as a complementary therapy of low back and leg pains and SNS disorder in pregnant women.