HOME SHOULDER EXERCISE PROGRAMME 

STRETCHING

These exercises are to help stretch the muscles and the capsule of your shoulder. They should not cause you pain. If the exercise hurts, do not push beyond the pain and stop the particular stretch as soon as the pain begins, then move on to another exercise and come back to it another time.

Inferior Capsule Stretch Gently pull on elbow with opposite hand until a stretch is felt in shoulder. Hold  10 seconds. Repeat 10 times/set. Do 5 sessions per day.		Posterior Capsule Stretch Gently pull on elbow with opposite hand until a stretch is felt in shoulder. Hold  10 seconds. Repeat 10 times/set. Do 5 sessions per day.
Flexion  Slide arm up wall with palm toward you by moving closer to wall. Hold  10 seconds. Repeat 10 times/set. Do 5 sessions per day.		External Rotation  Keep palm of hand against door frame and elbow bent at 90 degrees. Turn body from fixed hand until a stretch is felt. Hold  10 seconds. Repeat 10 times/set. Do 5 sessions per day.
Towel Stretch for Internal Rotation Pull involved arm up behind back by pulling towel upward with the uninvolved arm.  Hold  10 seconds. Repeat 10 times/set. Do 5 sessions per day.		Pulley exercise. Either seated or standing use your uninvolved arm to pull down and raise your involved arm overhead.

STRENGTHENING

Thera-Bands.

These exercises are to help strengthen the muscles of your shoulder - the rotator cuff. They should not cause you pain. If the exercise hurts, use a lighter band and stop exercising as soon as the pain begins.

Perform each exercise slowly - to a slow count of four.

Look at the pictures with each exercise so you can follow the right position. Warm up first: stretch your arms and shoulders and do pendulum exercises (bend from the waist, arms hanging down; keeping arm and shoulder muscles relaxed, move arms slowly back and forth).

Keep repeating each exercise until your arm is tired. Use a light enough band that you don't get tired until you've done the exercise about 20 to 30 times. Increase the band each two weeks (but never so much that the exercise causes pain)

If you do all four exercises three to five times a week, your rotator cuff muscles will become stronger and you'll regain normal strength in your shoulder. Each time you finish doing all four exercises, put an ice pack on your shoulder for 20 minutes. It's best to use a plastic bag with ice cubes in it, a bag of frozen peas, or a  gel pack wrapped in a tea-towel.

Thera-Band Exercises.  These exercises should be done with physiotherapy supervision. Strengthening exercises are performed as demonstrated in the diagrams with Thera-Bands (as pictured here).
All exercises to be done with the elbow at the side. Start with the easy band first and progress to the firmer bands a two-weekly intervals.

Home | About Your Condition

The information on these pages is presented as a rough guide to help you understand your condition better. The information is in no way intended to be a comprehensive coverage of the subject. As all patients and their conditions are different, the treatment may vary from time to time. All patients are encouraged to take steps to ensure that they are as well educated about their conditions as possible. Other sources of information inc

Philip Allen Orthopaedic
P PO Box 1089, Coolangatta, QLD, 4225, Australia
T +61 7 55980977  F +61 7 55980016 E allen@bonedoctor.com.au
www.bonedoctor.com.au