COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PAIN, RANGE OF MOTION, STRENGTH AND EXTENSIBILITY IN HANDBALL ATHLETES

Abstract

 Background: shoulder pain in the throwing shoulder of handball athletes seems to be related to changes in the range of motion, strength and extensibility of the tissues of the posterior part of the shoulder. Objective: to com-pare the range of motion, strength and extensibility between the throwing and non-throwing shoulder in handball athletes with shoulder pain. Material and methods: a comparative study was carried out in semiprofessional hand-ball athletes. The registered variables were pain intensity, internal and external rotation range of motion, internal and external isometric strength and extensibility in the throwing and non-throwing shoulders. Results: seventeen semiprofessional handball athletes with shoulder pain were included. The throwing shoulder showed a statistically significant decrease in internal rotation range of motion (p < 0.001) and in the extensibility of the posterior part of the tissues (p = 0.006), and a statistically significant increase in the external rotation range of motion (p = 0.039) and in the external rotation strength (p = 0.019). Conclusion: semi-professional handball players with shoulder pain in the throwing shoulder present a decrease in internal rotation range of motion and increase in external rotation range of motion and increase in the external rotation isometric strength and a decrease in the extensibility of the tissues of the posterior part of the shoulder compared to the non-throwing shoulder.