functional ankle instability ( fai ) indicated that symptom pain , instability and feeling of 
  giving way  after repeated ankle sprain1 . functional insufficiencies of ankle include impaired proprioception , impaired neuromuscular 
 control , and impaired postural control2 . previous studies suggest that proprioceptive exercise improve postural stability5 , and prevent recurrent ankle injury3 . also , tape has been use for rehabilitation 
 after ankle injury and ankle taping can reduce the prevention and re - injury of ankle 
 injury6 . it has 
 improved joint function by enhancing sensory mechanism7 , and improved the balance with chronic ankle instability8 . nonelastic tape was introduced by jenny 
 mcconell and it has been reported to enhance muscle activity , restore functional 
 movements9 . particularly , nonelastic 
 tape called athletic taping such as spiral taping ( st ) is known to be effective for 
 improving ankle proprioception10 . the st 
 was increased balance when applied on the ankle11 , and decreased low back pain12 . st are frequently used in the clinical setting13 , but efficacy for ankle injury is unclear . 
 in the present study , author aimed to identify the change of the proprioception following 
 application of the st in subjects with fai . the inclusion 
 criteria for study participation were discomfort in only one ankle in daily activities , such 
 as walking , jogging ; cumberland ankle instability score of 2314 , provision of written informed consent . the exclusion 
 criteria were any surgery and fractured bones in the ankle within the past 6 months , 
 previous neurological or vestibular impairment or any contraindications to the measurement 
 procedures . this study was approved by the institutional review board ethic committee of the 
 gachon university ( 1044396 - 201602-hr-011 - 01 ) . this study compared baseline and 
 post - intervention changes in a single group of subjects . st was applied to the unstable 
 ankle , and proprioception tests were conducted baseline and 30  min later . the tape was attached under the medial malleolus and 
 then above and below it . the tape s direction was diagonal toward the right at a 3035 
 angle with an 8-mm interval . next , the top of the next tape attached was divided and its 
 direction was diagonal toward the left at a 3035 angle with an 8-mm interval . then , 
 lateral malleolus and anterior talocural joint , similar to the medial malleolus ( fig . 1fig . . a : lateral aspect , b : anterior talocural joint , c : medial aspect ) . a : lateral aspect , b : anterior talocural joint , c : medial aspect proprioception measured using the active joint angle reproduction ( ajar ) test . the 
 interrater reliability of the ajar test is very high ( icc range : 0.910.99)15 . according to the previous study16 , the subjects were seated on a 
 height - adjustable table and the unstable foot was placed at a 90 angle from the hip , knee , 
 and ankle , and then plantar flexion and inversion of 10 and 20 measured that the footplate 
 was moved using the passive for 3 times , the subjects were requested to move the angle 
 detected using the active . changes 
 between pre- and post - intervention values were compared using student s paired t - test . descriptive baseline characteristics , unstable ankle scores , and cait scores are presented 
 in table 1table 1.general characteristics of the subjectsgender ( male / female)35 ( 14/21)age ( years)21.3  1.4height ( cm)166.4  7.6weight ( kg)60.2  9.5affected side ( left / right)14/21cait score19.5  3.1cait : cumberland ankle instability tool . plantar flexions of 10 ( es , 0.303 ) and 20 ( es , 1.369 ) and inversion 20 
 ( es , 0.998 ) showed a significant improvement ( p<0.05 ) , but not in the inversion 10 
 ( table 2table 2.active joint position sense pre- and post- interventionpre - interventionpost- interventionchange ( 95% ci)esplantar flexion 106.73  1.257.09  1.120.36  0.58 ( 0.190.54)0.303plantar flexion 2016.58  2.2519.09  1.272.51  2.19 ( 1.763.27)1.369inversion 107.45  2.138.05  2.050.56  1.63 ( 0.992.12)0.287inversion 2016.25  2.1118.14  1.631.89  1.13 ( 1.432.35)0.998*compared with pre - intervention ( p<0.01 ) , ci : confidence interval , es : effect 
 size ) . cait : cumberland ankle instability tool * compared with pre - intervention ( p<0.01 ) , ci : confidence interval , es : effect 
 size in the present study showed ajps at plantar flexions of 10 , 20 and inversion 20 
 significantly improved after st application . fai significantly decreases the accuracy of the 
 active position sense in a position close to the maximum inversion3 . when a non - elastic tape is applied at the front of the 
 ankle , cutaneous sensory feedback as well as midrange plantar flexion may increase10 . in this finding are consistent with those 
 of other studies showing that st increases cutaneous sensory feedback while also increasing 
 the accuracy of the active position sense . joint rom can be restricted by providing external support by applying the st such as 
 non - elastic tape17 . proper ankle taping 
 is generally understood to reduce plantarflexion and inversion of the ankle6 . interestingly , by restricting movement , it 
 is possible that the accuracy of joint position sense may be increased . st could be thought 
 of being able to be used to manage proprioception in fai based the large ess in plantar 
 flexion 20and inversion 20. therefore , the author suggested that st is an effective method 
 for fai . there are limitations to this study that experiment was conducted with single group 
 pre - test post - test design . therefore further study should be conducted to compare with the 
 other taping methods . also , proprioception feedback from the ankle is an important factor in 
 maintaining and controlling balance for postural stability . the author recommends that the 
 mechanism of st - related proprioception increase be identified and will investigate the 
 relationship between the changes in proprioception and postural stability after st 
 application in fai in a future study .
[ purpose ] the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of spiral taping on 
 proprioception in functional ankle instability . 
 [ subjects and methods ] thirty - five 
 participants in this study had discomfort in only one ankle and cumberland ankle 
 instability score of 23 . 
 st was applied to the unstable ankle , and proprioception was 
 measured baseline and 30  min later . 
 proprioception was measured using the active joint 
 angle reproduction test . 
 [ results ] plantar flexions of 10 ( es , 0.303 ) and 20 ( es , 1.369 ) 
 and inversion 20 ( es , 0.998 ) showed a significant improvement . 
 [ conclusion ] spiral taping 
 improved on proprioception . therefore , spiral taping may be an effective method for 
 functional ankle instability .