Beginner Shoulder Post-Fracture Rehabilitation

Program Overview This is a 19-week, beginner-level rehabilitation guide for someone recovering from a shoulder fracture. It is designed to be done four times per week, about 20 minutes per session, using simple home equipment: a hand exerciser, ankle brace, balance pad, wrist splint, and a dumbbell. It blends gentle movement, strengthening, and pain-control methods supported by moderate-level evidence.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This guide is for adults healing from a shoulder fracture who have been cleared by their clinician to begin gentle rehabilitation. The goal is to gradually restore shoulder movement, strength, and confidence while protecting the healing bone. Working in phases, you will build from protected rest toward fuller, more functional arm use over about five months, always with your care team's oversight.

Before You Start Please review this plan with your treating clinician or physical therapist before beginning. They can confirm it fits your specific fracture and healing stage and adjust it as needed. Have your equipment ready and set up a clear, safe space. Never push into sharp pain, and never begin a session if you notice new swelling, warmth, or changes in your wound.

Safety Notes and When to Stop This program is not appropriate if you have a wound that has reopened, signs of infection such as spreading redness, warmth, or fever, a flare of acute inflammation, or severe pain. Stop exercising and contact your clinician if pain steadily increases, swelling worsens, you feel numbness or new weakness, or your symptoms change. Some soreness is normal, but sharp or escalating pain is a signal to pause and seek advice.

Weekly Structure Each week includes four short sessions of roughly 20 minutes. You will use the hand exerciser for grip work, the dumbbell for light strengthening, the balance pad for stability and control, the wrist splint for support during loading, and the ankle brace mainly for balance and lower-body support tasks. Consistency matters more than intensity.

How the 19-Week Plan Is Organized The plan moves through phases: an early protection phase in the first weeks, then early mobility, intermediate strengthening, and advanced strengthening. Each phase builds gently on the last, and your clinician decides when you are ready to progress based on how your shoulder responds. Think of it as a steady staircase rather than a race, with rest and recovery built in.

What a Typical Session Looks Like A typical session follows a simple pattern: a light warm-up, the main movement and strengthening work, then a calm cool-down. Your clinician may also include pain-control methods such as cold therapy, gentle electrical stimulation, ultrasound for bone healing, hands-on joint mobilization, and stretching techniques to help range of motion. Keep the pace comfortable throughout.

Warm-Up, Main Work, and Cool-Down Begin with gentle shoulder and arm movements to warm up, using the wrist splint for support if advised. In the main portion, perform light strengthening with the dumbbell, grip work with the hand exerciser, and control drills on the balance pad, with the ankle brace available if your clinician includes balance tasks. Cool down with slow, relaxed movements and, if recommended, cold therapy to settle discomfort.

Tracking Progress Keep a simple log of each session: what you did, your pain level before and after, and anything that felt different. Note how easily you complete movements compared with previous weeks. Bring this record to your clinician visits. Tracking helps you and your care team spot trends, celebrate gains, and catch problems early so the plan can be adjusted safely.

How Progression Criteria and Outcome Measures Work Your clinician uses specific checkpoints, such as comfort at rest, swelling, and how far you can raise or rotate your arm, to decide when to move to the next phase. Standard measures like the SPADI, ASES, FASH score, range-of-motion testing, strength testing, and a pain scale help track your recovery objectively. You do not need to measure these yourself; they guide your clinician's decisions.

Recovery and Self-Care Rest is part of the program. Give your shoulder time to recover between sessions, sleep well, and stay generally active as tolerated. Follow any wound-care and splint instructions from your team. If cold therapy is recommended, use it as directed to ease pain and swelling. Report any changes in your shoulder to your clinician rather than pushing through them.

Pain Management Cautions and Red Flags Do not use this guide to self-manage increasing pain or to mask warning signs. Stop and call your clinician if you develop fever, spreading redness, wound reopening, sudden severe pain, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Avoid overloading the arm, and never add exercises, weights, or stretches beyond what your clinician has approved. When in doubt, pause and ask.