walking from one place to another is a basic functional activity in daily living1 , 2 . 

however , repeated abnormal walking patterns can induce foot and ankle injuries3 , 7 . 

abnormal kinematics of the ankle during walking may increase the risk for chronic ankle 
 instability and ankle sprain3 , 4 .
limited ankle dorsiflexion passive range of motion ( df prom ) with the knee extended can 
 cause altered foot positions and compensatory foot movements leading to an abnormal walking 
 pattern , which can result in ankle sprain and lower extremity overuse injuries5 , 6 . 

willems et al.5 suggested that limited 
 ankle df prom tends to place the foot in the plantar flexion position , which contributes to 
 ankle sprain related to ankle plantar flexion and inversion during sports activities . in 
 addition , limited ankle df prom may increase stress in the tissues associated with lower 
 extremity overuse injuries due to subtalar joint pronation and early heel off in 
 compensatory foot motion during gait movement7 . in view of the importance of ankle df prom ,
clinicians are 
 motivated to find an intervention to increase ankle df prom5 , 8 , 9 . the mobilization with movement ( mwm ) technique is an effective intervention for increasing 
 the posterior glide of the talus and ankle df prom10 , 
 11 .
mwm for the ankle joint involves 
 sustained anterior - to - posterior glide of the talus through passive manual force while the 
 patient performs active ankle df12 . for 
 normal ankle df prom , sufficient posterior glide of the talus and adequate gastrocnemius and 
 soleus muscle length
anterior - to - posterior ankle joint 
 mobilization improves arthrokinematic motion of the talus by increasing flexibility of the 
 noncontractile tissues around the ankle joint14 , 
 15 .
vicenzino et al.11 showed that mwm for the ankle joint 
 increased not only posterior glide of the talus but also ankle df prom in individuals with 
 recurrent ankle sprain . to acquire adequate motion of the talus ,
sahrmann13 stated that application of tape to the 
 talus posteriorly and inferiorly stabilizes the talus during tibial advancement movements . 

the stabilizing force from the tape may allow further tibial advancement over the foot as 
 well as posterior glide of the talus .
considering that posterior glide of the talus is 
 essential for sufficient ankle df prom2 , 
 improved glide of the talus during walking with talus taping may lead to an increase in 
 ankle df prom . even though limited ankle df prom induces abnormal walking patterns associated with ankle 
 and lower extremity overuse injuries6 , 7 , traditional interventions for increasing 
 ankle df prom
have not addressed the abnormal arthrokinematic motion of the talus during 
 walking10 , 11 , 14 .
to more efficiently 
 increase ankle df prom , novel interventions combined with functional activity such as 
 walking are required . walking with talus taping
is a suggested intervention for improving 
 posterior glide of the talus and ankle df prom ; however , no published reports have 
 investigated the effects of walking with talus taping on ankle df prom .
based on previous 
 results and clinical experience , we hypothesized that walking with talus taping would 
 significantly increase ankle df prom , and this study was conducted to test this 
 hypothesis .
nine subjects with a mean age of 25.89  2.96  years , mean weight of 65.69  13.85  kg , and 
 mean height of 169.61  8.65  cm were recruited , and 15 ankles with limited ankle df prom 
 ( mean ankle df prom , 7.33  1.88 ) were tested for this study .
subjects who had less than 
 10 ankle df prom with the knee extended , unilaterally or bilaterally , and in whom the ankle 
 df prom was greater with the knee flexed than with the knee extended were included in this 
 study .
exclusion criteria included a history of surgery in a lower extremity , neurological 
 diseases , and a lower extremity injury during the previous 6 months . before participating
, 
 all subjects signed an informed consent form approved by the inje university faculty of 
 health science human ethics committee . to measure the ankle df prom with
the knee extended , subjects were placed in the prone 
 position on a table with the knee extended and the tested ankle positioned over the edge of 
 the table . an examiner applied force to the plantar surface of the foot until a firm 
 resistance was encountered .
the subtalar joint was maintained in a neutral position during 
 the ankle df prom measurement .
another examiner confirmed the neutral subtalar position , and 
 then measured the ankle df rom using a 14-inch stainless steel goniometer .
the center of the 
 fulcrum of the goniometer was placed over the lateral malleolus , the proximal arm of the 
 goniometer was placed over the line from the fibular head to the lateral malleolus , and the 
 distal arm was aligned parallel to the fifth metatarsal . with the knee extended in the prone 
 position ,
the ankle df prom was measured three times before and after walking with talus 
 taping , respectively , and the mean values of the three trials were used for data 
 analysis . after the ankle df prom was measured , the talus was taped .
the tested ankle was placed on a 
 chair , and the subject performed ankle df in the weight - bearing position .
tokyo , japan ) was applied from the talus to the 
 calcaneus , passing below the medial and lateral malleoli .
the subjects then walked around a 
 walkway for 10  min with talus taping .
after 10  min , the rigid tape was removed , and the same 
 examiner measured the ankle df prom of the subjects with the knee extended . a paired t - test was used to assess the significance of the difference in ankle df prom 
 between before and after walking with talus taping .
, chicago , il , usa ) , and an alpha level of 0.05 was 
 considered statistically significant .
df prom , dorsiflexion passive range of motion . * p<0.05 the measured ankle df prom was significantly greater after walking with talus taping than 
 before walking with talus taping ( table 1 ) .
this study demonstrated that walking with talus taping significantly increased the ankle df 
 prom in individuals with limited ankle df prom .
a previous study found that posterior glide of the talus is an important factor for 
 increasing ankle df prom14 .
green et 
 al.14 reported that individuals with 
 ankle sprain acquired full pain - free ankle df prom after anterior - to - posterior ankle joint 
 mobilization for 2 weeks .
posterior glide of the talus can also be accomplished by 
 mobilization with movement10 , 11 .
the mwm technique uses manual force to produce sustained 
 anterior - to - posterior glide of the talus during ankle df , thereby improving the gliding 
 motion of the talus and the ankle df prom .
walking with talus taping may produce a similar 
 effect on the ankle joint because during the stance phase of the gait , tibial advancement 
 over the foot acts as the ankle df , and the posteriorly and inferiorly applied tape may aid 
 posterior glide of the talus . during walking with talus taping ,
the posterior and inferior 
 force applied to the talus by the tape may substitute for manual posterior glide of the 
 talus in the mwm technique .
therefore , we infer that talus taping assists posterior glide of 
 the talus during the stance phase of the gait and thus may increase ankle df prom . in 
 addition , walking with talus taping was performed under weight - bearing conditions during the 
 stance phase of the gait .
mulligan16 
 stated that posterior glide of the talus is more effective with weight - bearing than under 
 non - weight - bearing conditions because weight - bearing conditions reflect aspects of 
 functional activities . in the current study , tibial advancement over the foot in the stance 
 phase of the gait during walking with talus taping
involved a weight - bearing condition , 
 which may have contributed to the increased ankle df prom .
previous interventions for increasing ankle df prom have overlooked the importance of 
 correcting the abnormal walking pattern associated with limited ankle df prom10 , 11 , 14 , 15 . considering that walking is a basic requirement for many 
 activities1 , 2
, a combination of intervention for limited ankle df prom and walking 
 activity is needed to improve the efficiency of the intervention .
in contrast to joint 
 mobilization or the mwm technique , walking with talus taping may correct abnormal 
 arthrokinematic motion of the talus during walking , which increased the ankle df prom in our 
 study . furthermore , walking with talus taping has the benefits of time conservation and 
 efficiency because it can be performed without a therapist 's assistance .
thus , walking with 
 talus taping is suggested as an efficient novel intervention for increasing ankle df prom in 
 individuals with limited ankle df prom .
first , we did not measure the improvement in posterior 
 glide of the talus after walking with talus taping . in view of the importance of posterior 
 glide of the talus to ankle df prom
, future studies should investigate the effects of 
 walking with talus taping on posterior glide of the talus .
second , we did not measure how 
 the increased ankle df prom after walking with talus taping influenced ankle motion during 
 functional activities .
the influence of talus taping on ankle kinematics during walking , 
 running , and squatting should be demonstrated in future studies .
lastly , it is difficult to 
 generalize our results to other populations because of the small sample size in the present 
 study .
   [ purpose ] this study investigated the effects of walking with talus taping on the ankle 
 dorsiflexion passive range of motion ( df prom ) in individuals with limited ankle df prom . 
 [ subjects ] fifteen ankles with limited df prom were examined . 
 [ methods ] after rigid 
 strapping tape was applied to the ankles from the talus to the calcaneus , progressing 
 posteriorly and inferiorly , the subjects walked on a walkway for 10  min . using a 
 goniometer , 
 the ankle df prom was measured with the knee extended before and after walking 
 with talus taping . 
 the difference in ankle df prom between before and after walking with 
 talus taping was analyzed using the paired t - test . 
 [ results ] the ankle df prom was 
 significantly increased after walking with talus taping . 
 [ conclusion ] our findings 
 indicate that walking with talus taping is effective for increasing the ankle df prom in 
 individuals with limited ankle df prom . 
INTRODUCTION
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION