hey everybody it's doctor Jo and today I'm going to show you passive and active
assisted range of motion exercises for the shoulder. so let's get started.
so we're gonna start off with some passive range
motion exercises. and some people might argue that these aren't actually passive
range of motion exercises. I would argue that any range of motion exercises if
you are conscious, are a little bit active, but these are going to be the
best things that you can get to be passive because if you're moving in
any way, your muscles are going to try and help, but this is a great way to try and
get it done passively. so passive range of motion exercises would be if you've
had a surgery or if you're having a lot of pain and you really want those
muscles to relax, but you want to get the movement. so the first one is going to be
pendulums and pendulums are great because you can kind of use gravity just
to hang your shoulder down. so use a chair or a countertop something sturdy
just to lean over on. the shoulder that you want to get the range of motion for,
you're just gonna hang it straight down. so to really try and get the passive
range of motion for this, you want to move your whole body. so it's not me
actively moving my arm and my shoulder, it's just letting it hang down, and I'm
moving my whole body. so I probably am actively moving it just a little bit, but
this is gonna be the closest thing that you're gonna get to that passive range
of motion. so you want to do maybe ten one way and then reverse it and do 10
the other way. so I'm really just you know moving my whole body to try and get
that passive motion. and then you can also kind of stagger your stance and do
a front to back and just do you maybe again ten or fifteen. and then you can
also swing side to side. so depending on if you've had a surgery and what your
precautions are, or if you're just doing this for pain control, you can also add
just a little weight. so this is just a soup vegetable can, maybe one pound. and
so what that does is that allows that joint to kind of open up. so if you've
got a lot of tightness and stiffness in that shoulder and you're looking for
those range of motion, actually getting that weight, that lightweight and
then still going through the same motions really feels good. this is one of
my favorites for the shoulder when I had my shoulder surgery, this really helped
kind of loosen up the whole joint and just really made those muscles nice and
relaxed. so another great passive range of motion exercises is using shoulder
pulleys. and the folks at range master shoulder therapy sent me the Rangemaster
Blue Ranger shoulder pulley. and so what's really neat about the pulleys is
this is another great one where you really want that as much passive as you
can get. it's great. so it has a hook if you want to hook it on to your door and
it's got the pulley system so maybe you have a hook up on your ceiling which I
do you can hook it through here. so there's a couple different ways that you
can hook it on. so I'm gonna hook it on and then show you how to use it. so as
you can see I've got it hooked up right above me if you're hooking it up into a
doorway then it'll be slightly behind you. you can also adjust right here which
makes it really easy because you can just slide it and then hook it in. so you
want it to adjust it where you can pull your arm up as high as you comfortably
can. so again depending on if you just have an injury, just pain, or if you
actually have a surgery, make sure that you're following precautions if you've
had a surgery, so check with your doctor physical therapy physical therapists for
what your precautions are. so basically with the pulley what it allows you to do
is bring your injured arm which is going to be my left side up with the right
side. so it's just hanging on going up for the ride. so I'm pulling down with my
right side to bring that left side up. now if you have a lot of tightness in
your shoulder, you might only be able to come to about right here, and that's fine.
and come all the way down. but when you work on if you work on it for thirty
Seconds to a minute and you're just kind of nicely smoothly going back and forth
like this. a lot of times people can get a little bit higher and get a little
stretch a little stretch and then take it a little higher. as you can see my
thumbs are facing me that kind of opens up my shoulder joint. so I'm doing the
flexion motion in front of me this way I want my thumbs facing me. you don't
really want them out like this because if you're already having shoulder pain
that kind of puts that shoulder in a little more
an impinge position, but if you're going out into abduction, so I bring my arm out
to the side, now you still want your thumb facing you. so this time your hand
does turn a little bit and again I'm pulling up this way to get that
abduction a b deduction. so it's it's really nice it makes it super easy again
my arm is just hang on. if I was actually lifting it you would see the slack in
the pulley, and that's something what you don't want to see. you want to be nice and
tight, and it's just going up for the ride. so again it's not going to be
completely passive, but that's the closest you're gonna get to passive. so
you can also do a couple different directions, but those are my two
favorites to do with the pulleys. so if you're interested in purchasing the
Rangemaster shoulder pulley, make sure and click on the link up there. so now
we're going to do some table slides. so table slides are going to be active
assisted range of motion. so you're activating the muscles now, but you're
assisting those muscles with something. this is my imaginary table, it's just a
chair, but you can use your table you can use a countertop. you want something just
nice and flat. so if you don't have those you can use a chair but just make sure
that your knees are comfortable if you're sitting down on the floor. so
going back to the thumb position when you're doing your table slides, you want
your thumb to be up in this position. some people do it this way. it's okay to
do it that way, but again when you turn your arm in that at the shoulder kind of
puts it at an impingement, so when the thumbs up it's more of an open position
and I find it more comfortable. so this time what you're gonna do you can use a
towel or something to help the slide if you're if you're having a little bit of
trouble just sliding your hand, you're just gonna go for flexion forward. just
sliding forward again as far as you comfortably can. so you can see I'm
getting that stretch in that shoulder and though I'm actively moving in the
chair the table or the countertop is assisting my arm. so I'm not having to
hold it up against gravity. so I'm getting that motion but it's not usually
as painful if I was just trying to lift my arm up on my own. so again you can
just do maybe ten or fifteen back and forth, or you can do a little pause at
the end. some people like maybe a three to five second stretch just to
give that stretch in there. you can also change the angles a little bit. so if you
wanted to go in and angle this way, I'll show you this way, like if you want to go
kind of at an angle, we call that scaption, which is like
maybe a little bit wider out 45 degrees, or you can then even turn sideways to
get that abduction. again the a b, but the thumb is still in that upward position
and I'm sliding out this way and coming back up, so you can do it in a couple
different directions that way as well, so it makes it really nice, so then the next
ones are going to be using a PVC pipe or a stick or a broom stick to do some
active assistive range of motion. and if you're doing it correctly you can
possibly get passive range of motion. so I'm just using a PVC pipe. again you can
use a broom stick. you can use a cane if you have a cane. it's really something
just to assist the other side going up. so again sometimes you can make this
passive, but you really have to relax the arm and that's what a lot of people have
a hard time doing. so I would say maybe this is active assisted
possibly passive if you can do it correctly. so really I'm just doing all
the movement with my good side so this is what's going on, and I'm just holding
on for the ride for the injured side or the surgery side. you can also do this
lying down, but I feel like you can relax a little bit more if you're sitting up.
so whichever way your therapist or your doctor suggests, or you can try both and
see which one's easier for you. so the first one's going to be shoulder flexion.
again now if you have a little hook on the side like this, I like holding on to
the side because then again I can get my thumb in that upward position that opens
up the shoulder, but if you don't, that's okay. you can do it this way just really
try and relax that arm. and then you're bringing it up with the cane or the
stick. so I'm really just trying to relax this arm and taking it up for the ride.
so again you might have to lift it just a little bit because it's kind of hard
to do if you're not quite sure how to do it. but this is also helping with that
range of motion. so it's assisting it. you can also go into abduction so again just
kind of placing your hand on the side or the tip of the stick and then you're
just going to keep that arm straight and push it
up this way. so this one's a little bit easier I think to get it a little bit
more passively than active assisted, but you're just taking it up as high as you
comfortably can. this might just be as high as you can go. you might be able to
take it up just a little bit higher, but again just a nice smooth motion or if
you want to get that extra stretch at the end range, if this was my end range,
then I'd hold it there for about three to five seconds and then slowly come
back down. so make sure it's a smooth and controlled motion. you can also with your
stick or your PVC pipe do an external rotation, but again make sure if you've
had a surgery that you're cleared to do the external rotation or you know how
much motion you're allowed to have because sometimes there's a restriction
on that. with this one you want to keep your elbow by your side so my elbow's
never leaving my side, it's staying squeezed in the whole time. again I'm
holding on to that stick with my thumb in that upward position and then I'm
just gonna gently pull it, push it out until I feel that stretch. so again my
elbow's not coming away because then that's no longer shoulder external
rotation. that elbow's staying close to my side, and then I'm just gently pushing
out until I feel that stretch. so again 10 to 15 or if you want to do
that a little hold in between you can take it a little bit lower and get that
nice stretch. so the last one is going to be another active assistive range of
motion, and it's really just a prayer stretch, or a child's pose. and so this is
sometimes a whole body stretch, but I really feel like it does a good stretch
range of motion for your shoulders as well. so if you don't have any knee
issues, you can start on your knees like this, how I am. if you do have a little
bit of knee issues, sometimes people like to start this way first and then bring
their bottom down, but if you don't, I like then to do the active assisted
where I'm sliding it forward. so then I'm just taking my hands and sliding them
out as far as I comfortably can and then holding it. this one I'd hold or maybe a
little bit longer because you can relax a little bit better, so maybe like a 10
to 15 second hold and then come back up. again if you want to open up that
shoulder if that's a little painful you can bring your thumbs up, then that's not
quite a child's pose, but you're still doing that same
motion where you're coming down and holding that stretch, getting that active
assistive because you're assisted by the floor. or if you want it a little bit
more passively you leave your hands here in whichever position you want and then
you're bringing your bottom back to get that stretch. so you can see I'm getting
a really big shoulder stretch shoulder range of motion in there when I start up
here it's maybe about 90, and then I'm bringing it back to get that nice big
stretch and I can feel that in my shoulder blade area. I can feel it in the
shoulder itself, and then all the way through the arm. so if you're holding it
for 10 to 15 seconds, maybe do five of those just kind of judge it on how much
pain you're having. how much stiffness you have. don't push it too hard. you're
just going to tension and not to pain. so there you have it, those were your
passive and active assists of range of motion exercises for your shoulder. if
you're interested in purchasing the Rangemaster shoulder pulley, make sure
and click on the link up there, and don't forget to subscribe by clicking down
there. and remember be safe, have fun, and I hope you feel better soon.