Frozen Shoulder Exercises to Stop Freezing

If you’re suffering from a frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, it’s important to find a balance between rest and frozen shoulder exercises. While too much rest can make the shoulder even more stiff, there is also a risk of aggravating your pain and adhesions with doing too much. Keep reading to learn more about appropriate exercises for frozen shoulder pain.

Home Exercises for Flexion

Completing exercises at home for a frozen shoulder can boost your healing potential by increasing circulation and promoting thawing. Start slow with these home exercises and see how the shoulder responds before progressing.

1. Scapular Squeezes

This simple exercise is great for moving the shoulder blades and optimizing your posture. Sit or stand comfortably to start. Then, imagine you have a quarter between your shoulder blades that you’d like to squeeze and hold there. As you bring your shoulder blades back, make sure your neck is staying relaxed and shoulders down.

Squeeze and hold for 3-5 seconds before repeating for up to 15 repetitions and 2-3 sets. To progress, grab a resistance band and complete low rows.

2. Isometric Shoulder External Rotation

Isometric exercises activate the frozen shoulder muscles without having to elevate the affected arm. This can help work the muscles without significant pain. Use the wall or your opposite hand to provide the resistance you need for each move. With your weak arm at your side and elbow bent, start by placing the palm of your opposite hand against the back of your hand. Then, use your opposite hand to pull against the injured forearm/hand as if you were going to bring the hand toward your belly button.

Hold for 3-5 seconds for up to 20 repetitions, repeating for 2-3 sets total. You can also try resisting your arm in other various positions including internal rotation, flexion, and abduction. Plus, when you’re ready grab a resistance band and add movement to each weak shoulder motion.

3. Bicep Curls

Since bicep curls can be completed with your arms at your side, these are often a well tolerated exercise. Grab a resistance band or light weights to get started. You can choose to sit in a chair or stand for this one. If you have a band, place the center of the it under your feet and adjust your hands for appropriate tension. Then, keep your arms at your side as you bend the elbow and bring your palms up toward your shoulders.

Repeat for 15-20 repetitions for 2-3 sets. Progress resistance or weight as tolerated. Always focus on keeping good posture. You can also try the opposite direction (extending the elbow) to work the tricep muscles as well.

4. Prone Shoulder Extension

When you’re ready, this medium level move is a great way to start moving the shoulder in more ranges while strengthening the shoulder blades and upper back as well. Lie on your stomach with the neck in a good position and abs tight to protect the low back. Then, bring your arms straight out to the side to create a “T”  with the thumbs pointing up toward the ceiling. Next, squeeze the shoulder blades and keep the neck relaxed as you lift the arms a few inches up off the floor and hold.

Hold for 5 seconds for up to 10 repetitions. When ready, you can progress to harder positions with your arms in a “Y” position and completely overhead in an “I” position.

When to Exercise Adhesive Capsulitis

How often you will exercise your shoulder depends on what stage of a frozen shoulder you are at. What’s most important is always using your symptoms as a gauge.

• If you are experiencing an increase in pain or stiffness, it means you need to modify or stop an exercise until your shoulder is ready. With time, you will feel in tune with your shoulder and know when you can push yourself. 

• In the freezing stage, you will have a lot of pain. Focus on pain management and maintaining as much pain free range as possible for 5-20 minutes everyday. 
• In the frozen stage, you should have less pain and be able to push yourself each day for 10+ minutes to stretch and strengthen the shoulder. 
• In the last thawing stage, this the time to really start progressing your strengthening again for 5-20 minutes each day.

Ultimately, once your shoulder is healed you want to keep up with a shoulder home exercise program a few times per week for maintenance. 

Exercise Tips for Pain Relief

Exercise is important for the shoulder in adjunct with other treatment options for a frozen shoulder. To maximize your shoulder exercise program, keep these quick tips in mind:

• Warm up the shoulder and rotator cuff with gentle stretches
• Keep good posture; chin tucked, shoulder blades back, and no slouching
• Keep the neck relaxed with each move. If it’s tense it means the exercise is too hard.
• If you experience pain, manage it with modalities such as ice, heat, and massage.
• Practice stress management techniques and self-care to boost your healing power
• Consider consulting a physical therapist to maximize your results

Warm Up Stretches

Other Frozen Shoulder Treatments

Physical Therapy for Shoulder Pain

Should I Consider Physical Therapy?

There are a lot of potential benefits to seeking physical therapy care for a frozen shoulder. From a physical standpoint, a physical therapist can help you better manage your pain and slowly restore your shoulder range of motion.

Your frozen shoulder may be caused by an underlying issue, and a physical therapist can help identify this. Common injuries that cause frozen shoulder include:

• Rotator Cuff Tear
• Shoulder Impingement
• Shoulder Bursitis
• Shoulder Tendonitis

Educated guidance can help reduce your anxiety, common with any chronic issues, by providing you with education and guidance every step of the way.

Passive Range of Motion Exercises

When pain and stiffness are present, a physical therapist (PT) can utilize passive range of motion exercises and manual therapy to promote tissue extensibility, relieve shoulder pain, and restore joint range of motion. Here are three commonly used techniques. If your body responds well to these techniques, your PT can show you modified ways to self-treat at home too.

Conservative Home Treatments

Joint Approximation

When the joint capsule tissues are inflamed and sore, it can help immensely to simply hold the shoulder in a more relaxed position. With this technique, the PT will expertly “shift” your shoulder so that strain is taken off the capsular tissue and the shoulder is able to sit more comfortably in a normal position for a short period of time. This can allow healing components in the blood to perfuse better for healing too.

The therapist will hold for 30-90 seconds until they start noticing that the shoulder is relaxing.

Joint Capsule Mobilization

A common technique that a PT will use is shoulder mobilization. This mobilization helps boost joint range of motion by stretching the capsular tissues that are most restricted based on your assessment. Generally, the PT will gently pull the ball of the shoulder away from the socket (millimeters only) and then use their hand to guide the shoulder into areas of restriction for stretching. Common directions they will stretch include the anterior (forward), posterior (backward), and inferior (downward) capsule.

Scapular Mobilization

When you aren’t moving your shoulder as well as you normally would, it can lead to some major stiffness and biomechanics issues within the scapulae (shoulder blades). When the shoulder blades aren’t moving well, it can actually exacerbate the issues in your shoulder joint as well since these areas need to work together for normal arm use. There are many different PT techniques, but a common way to mobilize the shoulder blade is in side-lying. Your PT will guide the shoulder blade into restricted positions for appropriate stretching.

Choosing the Right Frozen Shoulder Exercises

Exercising a frozen shoulder should always start with basic moves to focus on comfort and healing. With time, you will be comfortable progressing to more dynamic strengthening moves that will get you back to your normal daily activities. Never force an exercise that doesn’t feel right. If your symptoms are affecting your quality of life or getting significantly worse, consult your orthopedic doctor or physical therapist to discuss all your healthcare treatment options.