Effectiveness of Scapular Mobilization versus Mobilization with Movements along with Conventional Physical Therapy in Fast Cricket Bowlers with Scapular Dyskinesia: A Comparative Study

A BSTRACT Background: Cricket injuries have been determined to be primarily caused by bowling. The repetitive, powerful ballistic arm motions used by cricket bowlers, like those in other throwing sports, will place a significant eccentric strain on shoulder rotator cuff muscles, making them more vulnerable to injury. For the shoulder to function properly, the scapula plays a variety of functions. Scapular dyskinesia (SD) is more likely to develop because of repeated overhead actions. Hence, the study was carried out to determine whether mobilization with movement (MWM) is as effective as scapular mobilization in correcting SD. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of scapular mobilization and MWMs in addition to conventional physical therapy in fast cricket bowlers with SD. Materials and Methods: This study recruited 25 players with SD in the age group 18–35 years, as well as divided them into two groups, where Group A ( n = 12) received scapular mobilization along with conventional physical therapy, as well as Group B ( n = 13) received MWM along with conventional physical therapy. Players had been treated for 3 weeks on alternate days using two outcome measures: lateral scapular slide test (LSST) as well as disability of arm, shoulder and hand (DASH). They were assessed and analyzed before as well as after intervention. Results: Fisher’s exact test as well as the Wilcoxon rank-sum test were utilized to compare outcomes between two groups. The level of significance has been set as P < 0.05. Findings reveal that both interventions led to significant improvement in correcting, as evidenced by reductions in LSST, and enhanced shoulder functions as demonstrated by decrease in DASH scores. However, MWMs demonstrated superior outcomes compared to scapular mobilization, showing greater reductions in both LSST and DASH scores postintervention. Conclusion: Both scapular mobilization and MWMs may be beneficial for the treatment of SD.