Intermediate Shoulder Tendon Repair Rehabilitation

Program Overview This is a six-week, intermediate-level rehabilitation guide for people recovering from a shoulder tendon repair. It is designed to be followed five days per week, about thirty minutes each session.

Who This Program Is For and Its Goal This program is for people past the earliest protected stage of shoulder tendon repair recovery who are ready to rebuild motion, strength, and function. The goal is to gradually restore comfortable shoulder movement, improve rotator cuff and scapular control, and return you toward everyday activities, all while protecting the healing repair.

Before You Start Please review this plan with your supervising clinician before beginning. Your therapist or doctor should confirm your shoulder is ready for this stage and that none of the listed precautions apply to you.

Safety Notes and When to Stop Do not start if you have severe osteoporosis, an open or separated wound, an arm that has not yet been assessed for range of motion, or a shoulder that is acutely inflamed. Warm up before activity, stop if pain increases, and keep your spine in a neutral position. Stop and call your clinician if you notice new weakness, a sudden change in shoulder shape, worsening pain, numbness, or wound problems.

Weekly Structure The plan runs six weeks with five sessions per week, each about thirty minutes. Sessions use a stationary bike, balance pad, ankle weights, and balance board alongside your shoulder work. The early weeks focus on protection and gentle motion, the middle weeks on expanding movement, and the later weeks on building strength. Your clinician guides each step.

How the Plan Is Organized The program moves through phases: protection and pain control, early mobilization, progressive range of motion, and early strengthening. You advance only when your clinician confirms you meet the readiness signs for each phase, rather than by the calendar alone.

What a Typical Session Looks Like Each session follows a warm-up, main work, and cool-down pattern. Your clinician may also add treatments such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, manual therapy, heat, and cold therapy with compression as appropriate for you.

Warm-Up, Main Work, and Cool-Down Begin with light stationary biking and gentle shoulder warm-up movements. The main work includes range-of-motion and strengthening exercises, using ankle weights for light resistance on the arm or shoulder as directed, and balance pad and balance board work for trunk and shoulder stability. Cool down with gentle stretching and, if advised, cold therapy with compression. Moist heat may be used before stretching, per your clinician.

Tracking Progress Your clinician tracks your pain, range of motion, strength, and function using measures such as the ASES score, Constant-Murley score, pain scale, Simple Shoulder Test, goniometer measurements, and DASH score.

Using Progression Criteria You move to the next phase when you meet the readiness signs, such as comfortable rest pain, improving motion without shoulder blade compensation, and tolerated strengthening. These criteria and your outcome measures help your clinician decide when to progress safely rather than rushing ahead.

Recovery and Self-Care Rest between sessions, keep up gentle movement as advised, and follow your clinician's guidance on activity and positioning. Avoid heavy lifting or pushing through pain. Report any concerns early so your program can be adjusted.

Pain Management Cautions and Red Flags Use cold or heat only as directed, and never push into sharp or increasing pain. Watch for red flags such as sudden weakness, a visible shoulder deformity, fever, wound drainage, or numbness, and contact your clinician promptly if any appear. Do not add medications or change dosages without medical advice.