Shoulder Pain Relief Exercises
Top 5 Exercises for Shoulder Pain Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention
Shoulder Pain. Neck Pain. Upper back pain. Are all too common complaints in athletes, weekend warriors, tradies stay at home mums and anyone who sits at a desk all day. And often, nagging neck pain, shoulder pain, and a stiff upper back will occur at the same time. And for many reasons. Because there are so many varied causes, we often find exercises and treatments targetting at prevention and recovery can overlap.
There’s no one size fits all approach to shoulder pain and injury recovery. This goes for pretty much any acute or chronic sports injury. Whether you come to see us at Equilibrium Sports and Spinal Clinic in Glen Iris or a different provider, it is very important to keep this mind and to educate oneself and to ask questions. The more informed and proactive you are in your road to recovery and injury prevention, the better your outcomes are likely to be.
Which Exercise Is Best for Shoulder Pain? 
There are countless exercises available that can help improve and maintain shoulder health and that can be used in the shoulder injury recovery process. Below are some instructional videos for safe, easy to learn and effective shoulder exercises to help get you moving in a positive direction. Which ones you’ll want to use depend on:
- Whether you have had shoulder injuries in the past.
- Are you currently suffering from Shoulder Pain or an Injury?
- Prior Shoulder surgeries if any?
- Which injury you currently or previously had?
- How long it has lasted and,?
- How severe it is?
DISCLAIMER:
Before doing any of these or other exercises to reduce shoulder pain, consult one of our Osteopaths for approval and proper technique. This is especially the case if your symptoms are particularly acute and severe. If you can’t lift your arm over your head without pain or cannot sleep at night due to the pain, be careful not to just go it alone. It’s always best to ensure you’re doing things correctly, so don’t be hesitant to get some guidance at first.
If it hurts, don’t do it! Whether it is the exercises below, yoga poses, an exercise in physical therapy or something your friend shows you. Pain is always your guide. If it hurts, STOP. There are a lot of other options out there for you. Muscle fatigue from exercise and tightness during a stretch are fine, but if a movement exacerbates your symptoms, it’s probably not a good one to do at that time in the injury recovery process.
Shoulder Pain Exercise 1: External Rotation
START POSITION: END POSITION:
HOW: Begin with your elbow and upper arm by your side and hold a resistance cable or exercise band. Keep your elbow close to your body and slowly rotate your hand and forearm away from your body while keeping your elbow connected to your body. Be sure not to arch your low back, dip a shoulder to one side or lean forward with your upper body. Hold for 1-2 seconds at the end range before slowly rotating your arm and hand back in.
Exercise 2: External Rotation – Arm at 90 Degree’s
START POSITION: END POSITION:
HOW: Begin with your upper arm parallel to the ground at shoulder height with the elbow flexed to 90 degrees. Hold a resistance cable or exercise band and begin with the forearm also parallel to the ground. While keeping your shoulder blades retracted and your elbow in line with or just in front of your shoulder, rotate your forearm backward until it is perpendicular to the ground. Be sure not to arch your low back, dip a shoulder to one side or lean forward with your upper body. Hold for 1-2 seconds at the end range before slowly rotating your arm and hand back down.
Exercise 3: Scaptions
START POSITION: END POSITION:
HOW: Holding a lightweight ( Start with 1kg) Your arm should lift up at a 30 degree angle in front of your body and should not raise higher than shoulder height. Keep your shoulder blades gently retracted (pulled back / squeezed), be sure not to hyperextend your neck or low back, keep your chest open and upper body tall.
Exercise 4: Shoulder Extensions
START POSITION: END POSITION:
HOW: Anchor a cable pull or exercise band in front of you. Keep your palms facing the ground and arms straight at all times. Exhale and bring your hands down to line up with your body. Keep your arms straight, shoulders relaxed, shoulder blades squeezed together gently, maintain the natural curve in your low back (don’t flatten or over-arch), bend your knees slightly and gently squeeze your butt muscles (glute max in particular). Maintain these postures while slowly letting your arms raise back up. Keep your shoulder blades gently squeezed back and resist the tendency of the head to shift forward.
Shoulder Pain Exercise 5: Quadrupeds (Bird-Dog)
START POSITION: END POSITION:
HOW: Begin on your hands and knees with your back parallel to the floor. Lift one arm out in front of you while lifting the opposite leg behind you. Sounds pretty easy, right? Not so fast! I often see people doing this exercise incorrectly and even find myself sometimes rushing through it without good form. Repeat with each side 5-15 times. Doing this exercise correctly can prove to be very difficult and require a lot of concentration for many people, especially when first learning.
If you find these exercises for your shoulder pain helpful, but feel you want a more specific program designed specifically for you, reach out to us, by booking an appointment, Don’t put up with Shoulder pain any longer! Don’t forget, we offer a no-obligation free phone consult if you have any specific questions.
