Effect of Myofascial Release Versus Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization in Improving Range of Motion and Pain in Athletes With Subacromial Shoulder Impingement

Objective: To find effect of myofascial release versus instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization in improving range of motion and pain in athletes with subacromial shoulder impingement. Methods: A experimental study was conducted on 36 athletes having subacromial shoulder impingement. Data was gathered from university athletes of Agriculture and Government university Faisalabad through non probability convenient sampling technique.20-35 year old male athlete, having positive Hawkins kennedy test were included. 2 experimental groups were made group A received Myofascial Release group B received Instrument-Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization therapy. SPSS version 21 was used for statistical analysis. Results: Suggested SPADI Pain score were non significant at baseline (p = 0.868). Group B, however, declined more in pain post-treatment (p = 0.007). SPADI Disability scores improved significantly with p = 0.033 in Group B. Shoulder movements including flexion, abduction and external rotation showed post-treatment improvement to a significant extent in Group B (p < 0.001). Shoulder internal rotation (p = 0.002) and extension (p = 0.034) also indicated significant differences in favor of Group B. Shoulder adduction, however, did not indicate a statistically significant difference after the intervention (p = 0.813). Conclusion: Both myofascial release and instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization showed improved results in improving range of motion and pain in athletes with subacromial shoulder impingement but instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization showed more superior results.