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

Overview

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.

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.