top 5 exercises for frozen shoulder

1. treating a frozen shoulder

Though unwise, leaving a frozen shoulder untreated might work in rare cases, however, you run the risk of having to live with the same pain for up to three years. Any doctor or physiotherapist will advise you medication, physical therapy, surgery, and home care.

Physiotherapy is your best bet to help remove the ailment. Similarly, for a frozen shoulder, simple exercises do way more to reduce your pain than allopathic care.

Physiotherapy Exercises For Frozen Shoulder

Here are some very easy exercises you can perform to reduce pain from a frozen shoulder

2. pendulum stretch-

This is the first exercise you should do in your ‘anti frozen shoulder exercise regime’ to get the most benefit.

To perform a pendulum stretch, begin by relaxing your shoulders. Place your good arm on a table and shift your weight onto it by bending forward. Let your affected arm be free to move in the air. Swing the arm in a small circle through a small diameter. Once you’ve given enough force for your arm to move, let it move like a pendulum, do not force your arm to move unless you are losing speed on your moving arm. As you keep getting better, increase the diameter of your arm swing, but never force the swing to let it happen naturally. You can gradually add light weights to your hand and repeat the same process.

3. towel stretch

You need a 100 cm towel to perform this exercise. Hold one end of this towel behind you back. Grab the opposite end of the towel with your other hand. Use your good arm to pull the towel upwards and despite the minor pain, keep tugging at your affected arm with the good arm. For best results, do this around 10 to 20 times a day.

4. cross-body reach

Cross-body reach is a very basic well-known exercise people usually use as a warm-up at the gym. Sit or stand. Hold your affected arm by the elbow with your good arm. Bring the affected arm across the body slowly. This will put very gentle pressure on your shoulder. Hold the stretch for about 15 to 20 seconds. Do this around 10 to 20 times a day. This is the most effective exercise towards frozen shoulder pain relief.

5. finger walk

This exercise is basically a simple game. Face a wall and keep a distance of about three-fourths of your arm. At waist level, touch the wall with two fingertips. Walk these two fingers up the wall until you have lifted your arm as high as you comfortably can. Do not move anything more than your fingers. Do not add unneeded stress on your arm or shoulder. Lower the arm back to its original position and repeat. Perform this exercise for about 10 to 20 times a day.

6. armpit stretch

Place both your arms onto a shelf which is about the height of your chest. If placing your affected arm is hard, use your good arm to place it on top of the shelf. Bend your knees slightly, gently stretching your armpit and shoulder area and then straighten when you stop being comfortable. Do this for about 10 to 20 times a day.

You may question, a frozen shoulder gets worse with added strain. So how exactly does exercising help reduce this pain? What we did here was put the strain on other parts of the body, like your fingers, knees, etc. but the benefits of exercise, such as stretching and contracting were focused on the painful frozen shoulder. These exercises keep you away from the pain of having to move your frozen shoulder while also working towards removing that very pain.

As you religiously keep performing the above exercises, you will notice a clear reduction in pain on your shoulder. This is the time when your range of motion starts to increase, and your arms can assume more positions than before without returning sharp pain.

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about author

Sreedevi M

Sreedevi Madhavan manages the content at Portea. She has 6 years of experience writing and managing medical content relevant to the patient and physician community. She also writes blogs for self-development, a handiwork of which can be seen at: www.sreedevi96.blog Sreedevi’s motto in life is “Keep learning, as learning keeps us young and dreams keep us alive.”