Shoulder Post-Fracture Rehabilitation (Intermediate)

Program Overview This is a 7-week, intermediate-level shoulder rehabilitation program for people recovering from a shoulder fracture. It combines guided exercise, hands-on joint work, and supportive therapies to help you regain motion, strength, and confidence in your shoulder. Sessions run three times per week for about an hour each. Progress is gradual and based on how your shoulder responds, not on a calendar alone.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This program is designed for people whose shoulder fracture is healing and who have some early movement back, but still have stiffness, weakness, or pain with daily tasks. The goal is to steadily restore shoulder range of motion, rebuild rotator cuff and scapular strength, improve coordination, and return you to everyday activities with less pain. It is not a substitute for your care team's individualized guidance.

Before You Start Before beginning, have your shoulder assessed by your clinician, and make sure your fracture is considered stable enough for this level of activity. Your therapist will confirm which exercises and equipment are appropriate for you and will adjust the plan as needed. Never push into sharp pain, and always follow the specific precautions given to you personally. Supervision by a licensed clinician is strongly recommended throughout.

Safety Notes, Contraindications, When to Stop This program is not appropriate if you have compartment syndrome, an unstable fracture fixation, severe osteoporosis, or a recent fracture. These conditions need different care and clearance first. Stop and contact your clinician right away if you develop sudden severe pain, new swelling, numbness or tingling, weakness that worsens, chest pain, or shortness of breath. Avoid overloading the shoulder, always warm up before and cool down after, and use pain as your guide.

Weekly Structure Each week contains three sessions of about 60 minutes. Sessions blend hands-on joint mobilization, therapeutic exercise for motion, strength, and stability, scapular and proprioceptive training, and modalities such as electrical stimulation for the rotator cuff and pain relief. Equipment includes a back brace, therapy putty, cable machine, elliptical, and resistance bands. Your therapist will tailor the mix to your needs.

How the 7-Week Plan Is Organized The plan moves through stages in plain terms: first protecting the healing shoulder while gently restoring motion, then building active movement, then progressively adding strength and control. Early weeks focus on pain control and gentle range; middle weeks add active mobility and light resistance; later weeks emphasize strengthening, coordination, and function. Your therapist decides when you advance based on specific, measurable milestones rather than the week number alone.

What a Typical Session Looks Like A session usually begins with a warm-up, moves into the main treatment and exercise work, and ends with a cool-down. Hands-on mobilization and electrical stimulation may be included alongside exercise. Your therapist will adjust intensity and choose which equipment to use based on your stage, your symptoms that day, and your goals. Expect the session to feel like active, purposeful work rather than a passive treatment.

Warm-Up, Main Work, Cool-Down Start with a gentle warm-up such as easy arm movements, light resistance-band work, or a few minutes on the elliptical to increase blood flow. The main work includes joint mobilizations, range-of-motion and strengthening exercises using therapy putty, bands, and the cable machine, plus scapular stabilization and proprioceptive drills, with electrical stimulation as indicated. Finish with a cool-down of gentle stretching and relaxed breathing. The back brace is used only as your therapist directs.

Tracking Progress Your therapist will track your progress using pain ratings, measured shoulder range of motion, strength testing of the rotator cuff muscles, and questionnaires about shoulder function and disability. Scapular movement quality is also assessed. These measures are repeated over time so you and your therapist can see real change and adjust the plan. Keeping your own simple notes on pain and activity between sessions can be helpful too.

How Progression Criteria Are Used Your therapist uses specific milestones—such as comfortable resting pain, improving range of motion, good scapular control, and pain-free muscle contractions—to decide when to move to the next phase. These criteria are checked at intervals, not assumed. Outcome measures like pain scales, range-of-motion measurements, strength tests, and function questionnaires help confirm that progress is real and guide safe advancement.

Recovery and Self-Care Recovery happens between sessions as much as during them. Get adequate rest, stay generally active as cleared, and keep up with any home exercises your therapist gives you. Apply ice or heat only as your clinician advises. Pace yourself, avoid sudden increases in activity, and give your shoulder time to adapt. Consistency over the full seven weeks matters more than pushing hard on any single day.

Pain Management Cautions, Rest, Red Flags Some mild soreness after exercise can be normal, but sharp or escalating pain is a signal to ease off and check in with your clinician. Do not ignore new symptoms. Seek urgent care for severe pain, marked swelling, numbness or tingling, chest pain, or difficulty breathing. Rest when your body asks for it, and never self-adjust medications without your clinician's guidance.