Physical Therapy Shoulder Exercises

If you are recovering from a shoulder injury or surgery, you need to focus your efforts on regaining strength with restoring complete range of motion. For the shoulder to work most efficiently, it needs to have both strength and flexibility. Physical therapists and orthopaedic surgeons recommend performing your exercise routine two to three times daily for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.

Active Range of Motion

• When doing active work with your shoulder in rehabilitation, the goal is to increase your range of motion. That said, never push your movement past the point of comfort. You don't want to re-injure your shoulder. Bend at your waist, allowing your shoulder to dangle toward the ground. Make circular rotations with your torso to create momentum for your arm--it should act like a pendulum. Do both clockwise and counterclockwise motions. Then sitting in a chair, keep your arm extended straight toward your knee, and then raise it up toward the sky as high as you can. Another exercise to help regain flexibility in the shoulder is an internal rotation, in which you place your arm behind your back and raise it to your shoulder blades. Then stand with your arms at your side; keeping your injured arm straight, raise it to shoulder level.

Isometric

• Isometric exercise is a way to build strength by contracting a muscle against resistance that is unable move. So the length of the motion doesn't move, but the muscle is working. You can do isometrics using a wall, desk or pillow to create the resistance. When doing isometric exercises, don't push as hard as you can; instead, push to only 60 to 70 percent of your full strength so you don't strain yourself.

  Shoulder rotation can be done isometrically if you stand with your body perpendicular to a wall. Get close to it with your forearm held parallel to the floor. Push your arm into the wall with your palm facing away from the wall for five seconds and then relax. Repeat 10 times. Then place your palm so that it is pushing into the wall. You also can do shoulder adduction and abduction. Place a pillow under your armpit and squeeze your arm into your body. Then push the outside portion of your arm against the back of a chair.

Supported Exercises

• Supported exercises use some mechanism to guide motion to prevent stress or use of other muscles. They allow you to isolate movement and contraction to an exact muscle group. An example of a supported shoulder exercise is a shoulder rotation. With your forearm sitting flat on a table, bring your forearm into your stomach and extend it out until your fist is at the center of the table. Doing an internal rotation while lying down will help accomplish the same goal; use a weight to add strength. Lie on your side on a bed with your injured shoulder against the bed. Keep a pillow under your head and place a weight in your hand. Keep your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle. Start with your wrist lying on the bed, and then raise it to a position that is perpendicular to the bed; then move it back to the bed surface. Keep movements slow and controlled.