THE EFFECTS OF MANUAL THERAPY FOR TREATMENT OF OVERHEAD ATHLETES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Background: Physical therapists commonly use manual therapy to improve shoulder range of motion. Manual therapy was investigated to determine its effectiveness in improving range of motion in overhead athletes. Objective: The objective of this systematic review is to investigate the effects of manual therapy techniques versus other therapy treatments on improving range of motion in overhead athletes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, and PEDro databases using search terms related to manual therapy, shoulder, overhead athletes, and volleyball were combined with Boolean operators. The results were limited to English articles published within the last 5 years. Full text articles that remained after a title, abstract and full text screen were included. Results: The initial search yielded a total of 419 articles which were screened based on specific inclusion criteria. Following a title screen, abstract screen, and full text screen, eight articles fit the inclusion criteria defined and were included for review. Of the eight articles included, seven reported significant results of improving range of motion with some form of manual therapy. Conclusion: The results support the benefit of administering various forms of manual therapy to an overhead athlete's physical therapy program to further improve shoulder range of motion.