Introduction: Athletic trowers and other overhead athletes are at high risk of developing posterior shoulder tightness because of their movement in overhead sport. Adjustments result as reduced range of motion in horizontal adduction and internal rotation of the shoulder. We can influence improvement of before mentioned reduced range of motion in the shoulder with different manual techniques. Purpose: With this literature review we wanted to show effects of manual therapy techniques on joint mobility in persons with posterior shoulder tightness. Methods: The literature was searched in data bases PubMed, MEDLINE and PEDro, with different combination of keywords in English language. Results: Ten articles published between 2010 and 2020 were included in the review. Analyzed studies included manual techniques such as instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, different stretching techniques, muscle energy techniques and joint mobilization. Combination of joint mobilization with horizontal adduction stretch had the biggest effect for treating posterior shoulder tightness in dominant shoulder joint. Success was also found in instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization, more so for improving horizontal adduction range of motion than internal rotation of shoulder. We found that stretching with stabilized scapula had greater effect on horizontal adduction improvement. Discussion and conclusion: We concluded that the analised manual approaches can improve range of motion of horizontal adduction and internal rotation of the shoulder, which lessens posterior structure tigtness in asymptomatic and also symptomatic persons. It seems these procedures can prevent development of adjustments and reduce risk factors leading to injury.
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