Comparasion of the effectiveness of shock wave therapy and LOW-DYE taping methodon patients with diagnosed of plantar fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition commonly encountered in clinical practice. While there are many conservative treatment of it, low-Dye taping and shock wave therapy is amongst the most preferred. This study has been made to compare the effectiveness of Low-Dye taping and shock-wave therapy on patients with plantar fasciitis. 88 patients were included in the study. 72 of these patients completed the study. These patients were divided into two equal groups in terms of numbers while considering the gender and physical properties. After general medical and demographic information of patients has been taken, shock-wave therapy to one group and to other group fake shock-wave therapy and Low-Dye taping was applied. The treatments was performed once a week and a total of 3 sessions. Patients general pain and function levels were evaluated before treatment, after treatment and a 6 week follow-up. A total of 16 male and 56 female patients completed the study. The mean age of all patients was 48.23 ± 9.44 years. In both study groups at the end of both the third and the ninth week a significant reduction in pain levels were found (p<0,005). Similar improvements were obtained in the levels of functionality. However, in the comparisons between treatment groups immediately at the end of the treatment there was a difference in favor of the shock-wave group at functional status sub-elements pain, business-day life and sports (p<0.05). The differences which are observed at the end of treatment, were losing significance at the end of a 6-week follow-up period. Consequently, the shock-wave therapy and Low-Dye Taping both treatment methods are effective in the treatment of plantar fasciitis and in early stages of treatment the shock-wave therapy is more effective in terms of function gain. The findings from this study can be helpful in the treatment of plantar fassit and protocol in determining the appropriate treatment which is a problem frequently encountered in clinical practice.