Manual Therapy: Mobilization of the Motion-Restricted Shoulder

The sports therapist or athletic trainer will frequently encounter individuals who have difficulty regaining normal shoulder joint motion following injury. This tends to occur in spite of the recent advances in arthroscopic surgical techniques, use of constant passive motion (CPM) devices, and sophisticated functional postoperative rehabilitative regimens. A typical approach to the restricted shoulder involves manual therapy techniques. This paper will review the basic physiological and therapeutic principles of mobilization, a primary manual therapy technique. Mobilization procedures are illustrated for the most commonly encountered shoulder restrictions.