COMBINED SCAPULAR MOBILIZATION AND MUSCLE STRENGTHENING IN THE TREATMENT OF ROTATOR CUFF TENDINOPATHY
Keywords:
rotator cuff; scapular dyskinesia; therapeutic exercise; muscle strengthening; shoulder rehabilitationAbstract
DOI: https://doi.org/10.46296/gt.v9i18edespsep.0430
Abstract
Rotator cuff syndrome (RCS) is one of the most common musculoskeletal conditions of the shoulder, in which scapular dyskinesis and impaired neuromuscular control of the scapular stabilizer muscles increase the load on the rotator cuff tendons, perpetuating pain and dysfunction. In response, a scapular recruitment program combined with progressive muscle strengthening was designed and applied through a quasi-experimental study, using a single-group pre-experimental design with pretest-posttest measurement, conducted at the Physical Rehabilitation Department of the Ambato Regional Teaching Hospital. The intervention lasted eight weeks, applied three times per week on alternating days, with sessions of 20 to 30 minutes, structured into progressive phases of pain control, initial strengthening, and advanced-functional strengthening. Evaluation was carried out using the pain traffic-light scale, the Daniels and Worthingham Manual Muscle Test, the Scapular Dyskinesis Test, the SPADI questionnaire, and the Hawkins-Kennedy Test. Following the intervention, statistically significant improvements of relevant clinical magnitude were observed in all variables studied: all patients moved into the green category of the pain traffic-light scale, muscle strength increased from an average grade of 3 to 4 on the Daniels and Worthingham scale, scapular dyskinesis resolved completely, the SPADI pain and disability score decreased by 60%, and the Hawkins-Kennedy Test shifted from positive in 100% of cases to negative in the entire sample. These results support integrated scapular recruitment with resisted strengthening as an effective, evidence-based therapeutic strategy for functional shoulder recovery in patients with rotator cuff tendinopathy, although interpretation should consider the inherent limitations of a pre-experimental design without a control group.
Keywords: rotator cuff; scapular dyskinesia; therapeutic exercise; muscle strengthening; shoulder rehabilitation.
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