Home Exercise Instructions for Arthritis of the Shoulder

Arthritis is a challenging condition to live with and you may find it difficult to thrive as arthritis progresses in your shoulders. Shoulder joint pain and stiffness associated with arthritis can limit your functional independence in everyday tasks and can reduce your motivation to leave home for activities or errands. There are simple exercises that you can follow to reduce arthritis symptoms in your shoulders, freeing you to live your life normally and with less pain.

Things You'll Need

• Heat pad
• Rod
• Over-the-door pulley set

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Instructions

• 1

  Prepare your stiff joints for exercise by applying heat. Use an electric heating pad set on medium heat for 15 to 30 minutes prior to initiating your exercise program, keeping the pad covering the front, back and side of your painful shoulders. Substitute a heating pad for an electric blanket if you have one, wrapping the blanket around your back, over the front of your shoulders and then back through your armpits.

• 2

  Loosen very stiff shoulders by completing pendulum exercises. Bend forward slightly while standing and allow your arms to hang limp at your sides. Slowly rock your body forward and backward, allowing your arms to sway at your sides. Then rock your body side to side, clockwise, and counter-clockwise. Move your body for at least one minute in each direction until you have reduced the stiffness.

• 3

  Perform pulley exercises while sitting in a chair with your back against the wall or door with the pulleys directly above your head. Place your hands on the handle bars and move your arms up and down slowly but steadily. Move your arms on the pulleys for 5 to 15 minutes. You should notice decreased pain and stiffness as you progress through this exercise.

• 4

  Grasp a rod, such as a dowel rod or straight cane, with both hands facing palms up and shoulder width apart. With your elbows bent at 90 degrees, rotate the rod sideways around your body to the right and to the left. Place both hands palms down about a yard apart on the rod and maintain straight elbows. Keep your left hand in place while moving your right hand directly above the left hand, and then reverse to the other side. Complete both exercises 20 times on each side.

• 5

  Keep your hands on the rod with palms facing downwards and shoulder width apart. Lift the rod above your head with your elbows straight 20 times. Move the rod around in a circle -- similar to an arm bicycle movement -- 50 times forward and backward. Add a weight cuff to your rod when completing exercises if your pain level is low, but remove the weights if you are having any increase in pain during the exercises.