Effect of pain-free range exercise on shoulder pain and range of motion in an amateur skier.
Won-Gyu Yoo
PMID 28174479WHAT IT FOUND
Lower reported pain and greater shoulder movement were noted after pain-free range exercises in a single amateur skier with severe right shoulder pain who had also received hot packs, electrical therapy, and ultrasound.
This is a single case, not evidence that these exercises work.
Key findings
01Initial evaluation showed a VAS score of 9, shoulder flexion of 40°, and shoulder abduction of 70°.
02After a 2-week session with hot packs, electrical therapy, and ultrasound, the VAS score was 8, shoulder flexion was 45°, and shoulder abduction was 75°; the paper says no significant changes were observed in ROM.
03After 3 weeks of pain-free range exercise, the VAS score was 2, shoulder flexion was 175°, and shoulder abduction was 180°.
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What it does not show
This is a case report, so it describes what happened to a single person and cannot show that the treatment works for other skiers. The patient received hot packs, electrical therapy, and ultrasound before the pain-free range exercise, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. There was no comparison group, so the observed change cannot be separated from other factors. The paper reports only shoulder flexion and abduction, so it does not describe changes in other shoulder motions or functional activities. The paper does not report follow-up after the exercise period, so durability is unknown.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pain-free range exercises caused the improvement. The patient had already received hot packs, electrical therapy, and ultrasound before the exercises, and there was no comparison group. This was a single case.