Background/Purpose: Fibromyalgia (FMS) is an illness characterized by an anomalous perception of the painful stimuli that are supposed to be attributable to a combination of interactions among neurotransmitters,  nociceptive routes, individual psychological characteristics, hormones and the nervous system. Moreover the FM patients frequently showed a muscular stiffness. The use of an elastic tape, neuro muscular Tape, in medicine practice has recently gained popularity and may help improve postural control deficits and pain relief in several conditions. The purpose of this study was to examine the immediate effects of neuro muscular Taping on pain and functionality in FM patients.

Methods: We enroll 40 FM patients, all female, mean age 49.80 ± 13.79 yrs. A specialist in neuro muscular tape applications, applied the tape on superior fibers of the trapezius, and after 1 hour we evaluate by a goniometer the inclination and rotation of the neck and by a VAS scale, the pain related to the neck. We excluded the patients with a clinical condition that could interfere with measurement, such as cervical hernia or traumatic neck condition.

Results: We found a significative reduction in neck pain after the tape application (p<0.001). Moreover we observe that degree rotation (left and right) and lateral inclination in FM patients had increase after the tape application. In table 1 we summarize the significant results of the application of the tape. Any correlation between age and clinical parameters were found. In any case we observed a local reaction.

Table 1: clinical data of FM patients
	Before tape application	After tape application	p value
VAS pain	7.050 ± 1.825	3.850±1.494	<0.0001
Right rotation (Degree)	43,28±12,43	57,38±10,23	<0.001
Left rotation (Degree)	44,83±11,44	57,80±9,608	<0.001
Right inclination (Degree)	14,10±5.55	19,80±5.94	<0.001
Left inclination (Degree)	13,38±5.66	19,95±6.013	<0.001

Conclusion:

The neuromuscular taping is a non-invasive technique that require a specific skills to obtain satisfactory results. Moreover the application of Neuro muscular taping is generally  well tolerated by the patients, and the local reaction is very rare. This is a preliminary work that underline the beneficial effects of neuro muscular tape application in FM patients. The improvement of local pain could be associated to a reduction of muscular stiffness, which leads to an increase of motility.  The limit of the study was the absence of the control group, for example a placebo group. We actually conducted a study with a prolonged observation and with a control group.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/neuromuscular-taping-on-patients-with-fibromyalgia-may-be-a-useful-tool-to-relief-muscular-pain/