OBJECTIVES: The aim was to compare the development of the active range of motion, the muscle strength and quality of life linked with frozen shoulder syndrome of patients treated with functional fascia training and conservative methods.

METHODS: The research was longitudinal, prospective and quantitative. The place and the date of research is Veszprém, Hungary, 01.06.2019-01.02.2020. All patients diagnosed with frozen shoulder syndrome in the hospital were examined. The total sample size was 16 subjects, divided into a case group with functional fascia training (n=8) and a control group with traditional treatment (n=8). All patients underwent a condition survey, a SPADI questionnaire and an assessment of their range of motion and muscle strength in the shoulder joint. After the 12-week-long exercise program, they were re-assessed.

RESULTS: We examined the affected and the intact side of the two group separately then the bilateral values too. Regarding the comparison of the values on the affected side, in extension [case group=52.13°, control group=46.13° (p=0.016)], flexion [case group=169°, control group=145.13° (p=0.014)] and external rotation [case group=64.63°, control group=53,75° (p=0.034)] a significant difference was found. In muscle strength the m. deltoideus [case group=4.75, control group= 4.12 (p=0.009)], the m. supraspinatus [case group= 4.88, control group= 3.88 (p<0.001)] and the m. subscapularis [case group=5, control group= 4.25 (p<0.001)] achieved a significant difference, while in the case of m. biceps brachii (p=1) and m. triceps brachii (p=1) no difference was observed. Furthermore, there was a significant difference in the SPADI scores [case group=16.63/130, control group=36.62/130 (p=0.007)] of the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS: The functional fascia training resulted a significant improvement in 39 of the 42 examined parameters, while the traditional treatment reached the significance limit in only 23 parameters. Thus, functional fascia training has been shown to be more effective than the method of traditional physiotherapy.