Shoulder pain intervention in Volleyball “SMASH”

with Charbel Habib - 2016-04-06

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”

- Hippocrates -

Exercising has been experiencing a spectacular growth for decades now, and sports have become an indispensable way for the harmonious development of the human being, his body and his mind.

 

Volleyball, is a sport that involves several physical movements; where numerous players confront shoulder pain regularly, in exception to those who serve the ball.

Research has proven that only the attackers in the game are concerned by this kind of pain, falsely diagnosed by medical doctors as tendonitis.

 

Mr. Charbel Habib, had led a research regarding this matter, highlighting the true cause of this pain throughout many examinations on local volleyball team players, who kept suffering, even after they had finished their medical treatments.

 

The players were constantly exposed to the same shoulder pain upon their comeback, even after weeks of relaxation, rehabilitation and treatments. The “smash” is the gesture used by the players to attempt a goal in the opponent’s side. Avoiding such a movement will not suffice to curb the inflammation, but only to attenuate.

 

Therefore, Mr. Habib has decided to interrogate the players and examine them, in order to find the cause behind this problem, through these following hypotheses:

 

-         Is the technical gesture, a responsible factor for shoulder pain?

-         Is the pain only caused by tendonitis?

-         Are tendons the only anatomical structures in injuries?

-         Did the players who received the proper medical treatment, achieve the main goal?

 

In order to find an answer to these questions, both theoretical and practical studies were implemented on a local volleyball team, in the Metn area. Moreover; many objectives were raised to complete the research:

 

-         Understanding the biomechanics of the “smash” movement, along with its impact.

-         Highlighting the importance of osteopathic tests, leading to the correct diagnosis.

-         Proving the efficiency of osteopathic treatment in this matter.

-         Helping the coaches to build a new non traumatic gesture to the athletes.

-         Emphasizing on the role of the therapist “on the field” so that players no longer reproduce the same lesion patterns.

 

The research was divided upon three main titles, between the analysis of the movement studying the different anatomical manifestations, the practical methodology on the chosen prospects, and the interpretation of the results.

 

Charbel Habib
Faculty of Public Health, Department of Physical Therapy