Rigid Taping's Effects on Posture and Balance in Office Workers

Acute Effects of Rigid Taping on Spinal Alignment, Tragus Angle, Balance in Office Workers: A Spinal Mouse Assessment

This study looks at whether applying a rigid tape to the upper back can immediately improve posture and balance in people who spend long hours sitting at a desk. Thirty office workers will have their head and neck position, spinal posture, and standing balance measured, then the tape will be applied to gently support the upper back and shoulders in a more upright position. The same measurements will be repeated 15 minutes later, while the tape is still in place. The tape is a flexible, skin-safe material commonly used in sports and physical therapy; it contains no medication and is not expected to cause discomfort or side effects. By comparing the measurements taken before and after taping, the researchers hope to learn whether this simple, non-invasive technique can produce an immediate improvement in head and spinal alignment and in balance control. This study looks only at short-term (acute) effects and does not test whether the benefits, if any, last beyond the taping session. The results may help patients and health care providers understand whether taping could serve as a quick, low-risk tool to support better posture during long periods of desk work.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Office Workers; Balance Assessment; Spinal Alignment
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Rigid taping

Detailed Description

Prolonged sitting and forward-leaning postures during desk-based office work are commonly associated with increased thoracic kyphosis, forward head posture, and reduced postural control. Rigid taping applied to the thoracic region has been proposed as a low-cost, non-invasive method to provide passive postural correction and proprioceptive feedback, but its immediate (acute) effects in office-working populations have not been fully characterized.

This study uses a single-group, pre-post (within-subject) design to evaluate the acute effects of rigid thoracic postural correction taping in office workers. Baseline assessments of craniovertebral alignment, sagittal spinal posture, and standing balance will be obtained, after which rigid tape will be applied by a trained examiner along a standardized pattern over the thoracic spine and shoulder girdle to passively encourage scapular retraction, thoracic extension, and reduced forward head positioning. All baseline measurements will be repeated after a 15-minute period with the tape in place, allowing evaluation of the immediate biomechanical response to the intervention.

The primary hypothesis is that rigid thoracic taping will acutely improve craniovertebral alignment and selected spinal alignment parameters, and may additionally improve dynamic balance. Findings are intended to inform whether rigid taping may serve as a practical, low-risk adjunct for immediate postural support in individuals with prolonged sedentary, desk-based occupational exposure.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Tuba MADEN, Association professor; Phone Number: +90 531 934 02 49; Email: tmaden@gantep.edu.tr

Study Locations

• Turkey (Türkiye)
  • Şahinbey
    • Gaziantep, Şahinbey, Turkey (Türkiye), 27000
      • Gaziantep University
      • Contact: Tuba MADEN; Phone Number: +90 531 934 02 49; Email: tmaden@gantep.edu.tr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• be an individual who works at least 6 hours a day at a desk
• not having had any musculoskeletal disorders or orthopedic surgery in the last 6 months
• not use any postural support

Exclusion Criteria:

• having been diagnosed with chronic pain or postural deformity in the lower back, upper back, or neck region
• having structural spinal disorders such as scoliosis, kyphosis, or lordosis
• having undergone physical therapy or manual therapy within the last 3 months
• having previously undergone rigid taping
• pregnancy

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Rigid taping; Participants in this single-arm study receive rigid thoracic postural correction taping applied by a trained examiner along a standardized pattern over the thoracic spine and shoulder girdle to passively encourage scapular retraction, thoracic extension, and reduced forward head positioning. Outcome measures (craniovertebral angle, spinal alignment, and standing balance) are assessed at baseline (pre-taping) and again after 15 minutes with the tape in place (post-taping), with each participant serving as their own control.

Other: Rigid taping; igid thoracic postural correction taping applied bilaterally by a trained examiner, starting from the anterior surface of the humerus and extending to the level of T12, to passively encourage scapular retraction, thoracic extension, and reduced forward head positioning

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Craniovertebral (Tragus) Angle	Craniovertebral alignment will be assessed using the tragus angle, a validated proxy for forward head posture. An increase in the tragus angle indicates a more neutral (less forward) head position.	Baseline and 15 minutes after tape application
Change in Sagittal Spinal Alignment	Spinal alignment will be assessed non-invasively using the SpinalMouse device in neutral standing, maximal flexion, and maximal extension postures, yielding segmental angles (sacral/hip, thoracic, lumbar, and inclination).	Baseline and 15 minutes after tape application

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Static and Dynamic Postural Balance	Postural balance will be assessed using a force platform (ForcePlates) system, with center-of-pressure (COP) parameters including sway area, mean velocity, and displacement in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions.	Baseline and 15 minutes after tape application

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Pamukkale University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Erhan KIZMAZ, University of Gaziantep

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 15, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 15, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 8, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): September 11, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 11, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 8, 2026
• Last Verified: September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: Rigid taping

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data will not be shared, as the informed consent obtained from participants did not include provisions for third-party data sharing.

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No