A common cause of shoulder pain is soreness of the tendon (a cord that attaches a muscle to a bone) in the rotator cuff. This is the part of the shoulder that helps circular motion. Another common cause is soreness of the subacromial bursa (a sac of fluid under the highest part of the shoulder).
You might experience soreness after painting, lifting items, or playing a sport—anything that requires you to lift your arms, especially overhead. Or you may not remember any specific injury, but you still feel pain in your shoulder. The following shoulder pain exercises may help you. Ask your doctor if you should do other exercises, too.
Posture Correction
Stand or sit up straight. Lift your chest, pull your shoulders back and down, keep your neck in a neutral position, and hold your elbows close to your body. Slouching places more pressure on the rotator cuff and labrum. Good posture keeps your spine and shoulders in a neutral position, which opens up this space and reduces the strain on these structures. Maintaining this position all day is easier said than done once you’ve fallen into bad habits.
Foam Roll
Lie on your back on a foam roller, with your spine perpendicular to it and the roller situated at the base of your shoulder blades. Interlock your fingers behind your head to support your neck, and lower your elbows out to the sides to open your chest. Keep your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, and core engaged. Press though your feet to raise your hips off the floor. Then gently roll back and forth, focusing on your upper back.
Doorframe Chest Stretch
Before you stretch, use a massage or lacrosse ball to roll out and loosen the chest muscles. Hold the ball against a wall or doorframe at chest level, gently lean your body into it for pressure, then move your torso to roll the ball around each pec for a minute or two.
For the stretch, stand in an open doorframe and place your forearms vertically on each side, with your elbows at shoulder level and bent to 90 degrees. Gently lean or step forward to engage a chest stretch. Hold for 30 seconds. Next raise your arms overhead so that your upper arms are roughly 135 degrees from your torso. Once again, gently lean or step forward to engage a stretch, and hold for 30 seconds.
Wall Angels
Stand with your back against a wall or door, your feet six inches away from the base, with a slight bend in your knees. Engage your core to flatten your back against the wall, including your low back. Look straight ahead to keep your neck in a neutral position. Then raise your elbows up to shoulder level (bent to 90 degrees). Squeeze your shoulder blades together to press your elbows and the back of your hands against the wall, if you can.
This is the starting position. From here, slowly slide your arms up the wall as far as you can without losing form (keep your forearms vertical throughout the movement, and avoid arching your lower back), pause for a second, then return to the starting position. Continue sliding your arms up and down for 30 seconds. If your sport involves overhead motion, try the exercise with straight arms as well, since this better mimics the movement pattern.
Shoulder Rotation with a Resistance Band
Internal rotation with a low elbow—Tie one end of a resistance band to an anchor point at waist height, like a pole or doorknob. Grab the other end of the band, stand with the shoulder of that arm facing the anchor point, and step away to give tension to the band. Hold your arm by your side, with your elbow bent to 90 degrees and your hand aiming forward. Then engage your shoulder blade and rotate your arm toward your abdomen. Slowly reverse the movement for one repetition. Complete all reps, then switch to external rotation.
External rotation with a low elbow—From the aforementioned position, rotate your body 180 degrees or switch arms, so the band now comes across your abdomen. Rotate your arm out to the side against the band (making sure to keep your elbow bent to 90 degrees), then slowly let it return to the starting position. Repeat.
