FUNCTIONAL EXERCISE EVALUATION ON ATHLETES’ CERVICALGIA MANAGEMENT

ABSTRACT Introduction Cervicalgia generally refers to the pain syndrome caused by the cervical spine, joints, muscles, ligaments, fascia, soft tissues around the shoulder joint, and visceral diseases. Evidence suggests that resistance exercises are beneficial in solving this dysfunction in various groups, but there is no consensus in athletes. Objective This paper examines functional exercises’ effect on athletes’ cervicalgia. Methods Using mathematical statistics, the article randomizes equally the intensity of cervicalgia in the control and experimental groups, involving 60 individuals aged 18 to 20 years (31 males). While the control group received conventional rehabilitation treatment, the experimental group had a functional exercise training protocol three times a week, of 10 weeks. The pain was assessed by visual analog scale and self-assessment of functional limitation. Results Differences in shoulder and neck pain were found between the two groups of volunteers before and after the training rehabilitation. A complete improvement was seen in 15 subjects in the experimental group versus 8 in the control group (P