Shoulder Post Fracture Beginner Rehabilitation

Program Overview Shoulder Post Fracture Beginner Rehabilitation — A 22-week beginner rehabilitation program for the upper limb, specifically the shoulder, focusing on rotator cuff, labrum, AC joint, and biceps tendon, using elliptical, bosu ball, and resistance band for post-fracture recovery.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This program is for adults recovering from a shoulder fracture who have been cleared by their clinician to begin structured rehabilitation at a beginner level. Its goal is to gradually restore shoulder movement, strength, and function while protecting the healing bone and surrounding soft tissues. The program progresses through distinct phases over 22 weeks, so it stays gentle early and builds steadily as your shoulder tolerates more. Always follow your own clinician's guidance if it differs from this general plan.

Before You Start Your clinician should confirm you are ready for this program and supervise your progress, especially early on. Do not start or continue if you have an open or re-opening wound (wound dehiscence), a shoulder that is hot, swollen, or freshly inflamed, severe pain, or hardware that is unstable or not yet secure. Stop immediately and contact your clinician if pain sharply increases, swelling or warmth appears, you feel the shoulder "give way," or new numbness or weakness develops.

Safety Notes and When to Stop Progress gently and avoid overloading the shoulder at any stage. Keep your spine in a neutral, comfortable position during exercises rather than arching or twisting to gain range. Never push through sharp pain, and never use forceful stretching or heavy resistance before your clinician clears you for that phase. Contact your clinician promptly if you notice increased pain that lingers, new swelling, wound problems, a sensation of instability, or loss of movement you previously had.

Weekly Structure You will do three sessions per week, each lasting about 60 minutes, across 22 weeks. Sessions use an elliptical, a Bosu ball, and resistance bands, alongside clinician-provided modalities such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, taping, joint mobilization, and aquatic therapy where available. The plan moves through phases — protection, early motion, controlled motion, and strengthening — so early weeks focus on gentle movement and later weeks build strength and control.

How the 22-Week Plan Is Organized The first weeks emphasize protection and gentle motion while the fracture heals. Around week 4, if your clinician confirms healing and good tolerance, you begin light scapular (shoulder blade) work. By week 8 you add more assisted motion, by week 12 more controlled active movement, and by week 16 strengthening with resistance. The final weeks refine strength, coordination, and confidence. Each phase builds on the last, and you only advance when your clinician confirms you meet the phase goals.

What a Typical Session Looks Like Each session follows a warm-up, main work, and cool-down pattern. You might warm up with easy arm and shoulder-blade movements and light elliptical work as cleared, then do your main exercises using the resistance band and Bosu ball for control and stability, and finish with gentle stretching and cool-down. Your clinician may add modalities such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, or taping around this structure.

Warm-Up, Main Work, and Cool-Down Begin with gentle range-of-motion and scapular setting movements to prepare the shoulder. The main work includes band-based strengthening, Bosu-ball stability and control drills, and clinician-guided mobility or modality work. Cool-down involves slow, comfortable stretching and relaxed breathing. Keep movements smooth and controlled, and let pain guide how far you go rather than forcing range.

Tracking Progress Your clinician will track your progress using the Constant-Murley Score, ASES Score, Simple Shoulder Test, a pain scale (VAS), goniometric range-of-motion measurements, and handheld dynamometry for rotator cuff strength. These give an objective picture of how your movement, strength, and function are improving over time. Keep notes on your daily pain and what you could do each week to share at visits.

How Progression Criteria Are Used You move between phases only when your clinician confirms you meet that phase's goals — for example, healing on imaging, adequate pain-free movement, and tolerance to light loads. These checkpoints protect the healing shoulder from moving too fast. Outcome measures are repeated to confirm gains and guide adjustments, so progression is based on your actual response, not just the calendar.

Recovery and Self-Care Rest between sessions and prioritize sleep and good nutrition to support healing. Use pain as your guide: mild discomfort during exercise that settles quickly is generally acceptable, but lasting increases mean you should ease off. Follow any taping or modality advice from your clinician, keep the shoulder supported when needed, and stay consistent rather than pushing hard in bursts.

Pain Management Cautions and Red Flags Do not self-medicate or change any prescribed medication without your clinician's advice. Avoid aggressive stretching, heavy lifting, or sudden forceful movements. Seek prompt care for severe or worsening pain, new swelling or redness, wound opening, fever, numbness, or a feeling the shoulder is unstable — these are reasons to stop and call your clinician.