Beginner Shoulder Post-Fracture Rehabilitation

Program Overview This is a 20-week beginner rehabilitation guide for someone recovering from a shoulder fracture. It is designed to be done three times a week for about 60 minutes per session, under the supervision of a licensed clinician. The program blends hands-on therapy, gentle movement, and graded strengthening to help you regain shoulder motion, strength, and confidence over time.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This guide is for adults healing from a shoulder fracture who are new to structured rehabilitation and have been cleared to begin gentle movement. The goal is to protect the healing bone early on, gradually restore range of motion and rotator cuff and scapular strength, and return you to everyday activities safely. Progress is paced to your body's response, not a fixed calendar.

Before You Start Please review this plan with your treating clinician before beginning, and do not start if your wound has opened or you have signs of infection. Always warm up before activity, and stop any exercise if pain increases. Seek urgent care for fever, spreading redness, new drainage, or sudden severe pain.

Safety Notes and When to Stop Your clinician has flagged two serious precautions: wound dehiscence (a surgical wound that reopens) and infection. Do not exercise over an open wound or an area that is hot, red, or draining. Stop immediately and call your clinician if you notice increased pain that does not settle, new swelling, wound separation, fever, or feelings of instability. Some soreness is normal; sharp or escalating pain is not.

Weekly Structure Plan for three sessions per week with rest days in between, each lasting about 60 minutes. The 20 weeks are grouped into phases: an early protection-and-pain-control phase, an early-motion phase, and later phases that build strength and function. You only move to the next phase when you meet your clinician's progression checks, so the timeline flexes to you.

How the Plan Is Organized Sessions use a kettlebell, rower, foam roller, weight vest, and ankle weights, along with modalities like cryotherapy, ultrasound, soft tissue and joint mobilization, and aquatic therapy if available. Early weeks focus on comfort, swelling control, and gentle assisted motion. Middle weeks add active movement and light resistance. Later weeks build endurance and functional strength. Think of it as layers added only when the previous layer feels secure.

What a Typical Session Looks Like Each session follows a warm-up, main work, and cool-down pattern. Expect hands-on therapy and modalities alongside exercise, with intensity kept low and controlled at first. Your clinician will adjust the mix based on how your shoulder responds, so no two sessions look exactly alike as you progress.

Warm-Up, Main Work, Cool-Down Begin with gentle circulation work such as easy rowing at low resistance and shoulder-friendly mobility. The main work may include assisted range-of-motion drills, soft tissue and joint mobilization, isometric holds, and light resistance using ankle weights or a kettlebell only when cleared. Cool down with foam-roller work on surrounding muscles, gentle stretching, and cryotherapy as directed. Keep everything pain-free and controlled.

Tracking Progress Your clinician will record range of motion with goniometry, pain with a visual analog scale, and function using the Constant-Murley, UCLA, DASH, and ASES scores. These measures are repeated at intervals to show trends. Bring any home symptom notes to sessions so your plan can be adjusted accurately.

How Progression Criteria Are Used You advance between phases only when you meet the specific clinical checks set for that phase, such as comfortable passive motion, reduced swelling, stable alignment, and improving strength and scapular control. Outcome measures confirm the trend rather than decide alone. If a check is not met, your clinician simply continues the current phase and reassesses.

Recovery and Self-Care Recovery happens between sessions. Prioritize sleep, balanced nutrition, and hydration, and follow your clinician's guidance on icing and activity modification. Keep the shoulder supported during rest as advised, and avoid heavy lifting or overhead tasks until cleared. Consistency with gentle, supervised practice matters more than pushing hard.

Pain Management and Red Flags Use cryotherapy and rest as directed for soreness, and remember that mild, settling discomfort is expected while sharp or rising pain is a stop signal. Never mask increasing pain to finish an exercise. Contact your clinician for worsening pain, new swelling, wound changes, fever, or a shoulder that feels unstable or gives way.