This video, I'm going to show you how to get rid of rotator
cuff pain at home using, no special equipment. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare
in Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go
over some great exercises for shoulder and rotator cuff
strain and pain. As a note, these are not geared towards
helping with a torn rotator cuff. Instead, visit your local
doctor. Tt's going to be broken up into a very easy to
follow three-part guide. We're going to focus on mobility, we're
gonna focus on strengthening, and then tying it all together
with some great stability exercises. Go through all three
parts. Put them together to get the best results. As a note,
all these exercises sizes can be done at home, don't require
any special equipment and may give quick rotator cuff pain
relief even, in as little as 30 seconds! So let's get started
and get the rotator cuff feeling better right now. In
the first part, we're going to focus on lessening rotator cuff
strain and pain with some really good shoulder stretching
exercises. Let's just get everything loosened up and
feeling better. We're going to focus on two big movements.
External rotation of the shoulder that is taking it out
and then internal rotation. Let's start with external
rotation. This is one of my favorite exercises. It's known
as a dowel-assisted shoulder rotator. I'm gonna be using a
large stick for this. A broomstick works perfect. You
can use a PVC pipe. You can use a toilet plunger. If you don't
have any of that, go out in the yard, grab a big stick. I hope
everybody has one of those. So, I'm gonna take my stick right
here. Whatever side that I'm focusing on, I'm going to put
it on the outside of the arm and then take two fingers in my
thumb and just pinch onto it. During this exercise, just
pinch onto this so it's a stable anchor point. My hand on
the other side, so then this case is my left, is going to
grab right below it. The movement is very easy. What I'm
going to do is pull on the stick with my bottom hand which
will cause my shoulder to go outwards into external
rotation. You'll really feel it on the outside of that
shoulder. So, go down to a point where it's a very deep
stretch, but this is very important, not to the point
where it's causing any sharp pains. You want to stop right
before that point. Hold this position for about 15 to 20
seconds. You're just going to relax and then you're going to
repeat this with each repetition. Try to go a little
bit further with it. Build more mobility into the shoulder and
you want to do this slowly for three to five repetitions. Why
I like this one so much is because you can really control
the amount of rotation into the shoulder without causing a lot
of irritation and I do recommend that once you are
done on one side, switch to the other to keep them both in
balance. So next, let's focus on internal rotation of the
shoulder. Here's a really good exercise known as the sleeper
and again, this one you can control the amount of stretch
very easily and very slowly which will hopefully lead to
less irritation of the rotator cuff. What we're going to do is
start off in bed or on the floor laying on the side that
we're focusing on. So, in this case, I have a lot going on in
my right rotator cuff. I'm going to bend my elbow at
90 degrees. My fingers are going to be pointed up towards the
ceiling like this. Make sure that the elbow to the shoulder
is flushed against that flat surface. We want to really
isolate the shoulder. By doing a slight push down into the
elbow to that will help. From there, I'm gonna take my hand,
place it on the back side of the arm right here and slowly
lower my palm down towards the floor or towards the bed. The
further that you go down, the more that you're going to
notice that a very deep stretch happens in the shoulder. What
we want to do is go to a point where it's a very deep stretch
but not causing any pain or discomfort. So, like, let's say
right here, if I went any further, I would get pain into
my shoulder. I stop and I then hold this for 20 seconds. From
there, I just relax then on the next repetition, what I'll
notice, I have a little bit more flexibility. I can go down
further without having that pain. So, I slowly build into
it over the course of three to five repetitions. With this
too, notice afterwards how much more flexibility you have and
hopefully, you'll have a lot less rotator cuff pain and I
always do recommend that after you get done on one side, just
switch to the other to keep both in balance. In this part,
we're going to focus on strengthening the rotator cuff.
So, if we're not only looking to get rid of pain but
hopefully less in future instances of it we have to make
everything stronger I'm gonna show two different methods the
first I like to call the soup can method I'm going to be
using a tasty can of beef barley soup, you can use any
flavor you like so this is a progressive exercise start off
light with a can of soup you can also go into something
heavier like a water bottle or if you do have a dumbbell you
can use that but start off light progress into heavier as
needed this is known as the genie exercise because it kind of
looks like a genie in its position. What I'm going to do is
start off by just gripping the can of soup or whatever object
you're using on the side that you're having discomfort. In
this case would be my right rotator cuff. I'm going to bring
the arm up like this. Bend the elbow at 90°. The other arm is
also going to be bent at 90° at the elbow and I'm going to take
the back side of the hand right here. Place it underneath that
elbow. What we want is kind of a nice support or a shelf. That
way, we can really isolate the shoulder with this movement.
The movement, very easy. I'm just going to simply lower the
can or whatever object that you're using towards the floor.
It should take you about five seconds to go all the way down.
This push the shoulder into internal rotation. When you do
this, notice if you can go down all the way. If you can, that's
great but if you're not able to because you're getting pain or
discomfort, that's the point that you want to stop at. From
there, what I'm going to do is then come back up and do the
same thing. Put the shoulder into external rotation. It
should take you about five seconds. Again, stopping at any
point before a causes discomfort. When you do this
again, what you'll notice is that maybe you had to stop
right here on the first attempt, you'll probably be
able to go just a little bit further this time around and
not only is it help strengthening this but it's
also helping to stretch everything out and hopefully
get a lot more mobility into that shoulder. But just do this
nice and slowly for about 10 to 12 complete repetitions. Good
way to really focus on internal rotation and external rotation
of the shoulder and help strengthen that shoulder
capsule. I always do recommend that when you're done one side
switch to the other keep them both in balance the second
strengthening exercise is what I'd like to call the door frame
method because we're going to be using just a door frame to
start off with let's grab a cushion like a small towel you
can roll up a T shirt or even just a small pillow what we
want to do is whatever side that we're focusing on let's
bend that elbow 90°, the arm is going to go straight out in
front of us elbow to the hand take the cushion place it right
on the inside of the elbow right here and then take your
elbow and press into the cushion to your side. This will
create a stable anchor point so we can really isolate the
rotator cuff a little bit more. We're going to do external
rotation to start off with. So, let's go right up to our door
frame and position it again where our arm is straight out
in front of us. What I'm going to do is just start off with
initial amount of tension on the backside of my hand
pressing into that door frame. From there, I'm going to build
into it by pressing into it even more. The more that you
press into it, the more that you're going to feel the
shoulder and rotator cuffs activate. Only to a comfortable
activation of those rotator cuffs. This should not cause
any discomfort. Once we hit that point, let's hold this for
five seconds. From there, you're just going to relax and
then you're going to repeat this. Taking this hand driving
it in. Really try to focus on bringing this hand out as much
as you can. Do this for 10 to 15 repetitions. Next, let's
focus a little bit more on internal rotation. So, I'm
going to do the same thing. I'm going to take my towel, place it
on the inside, press in as much as I to isolate the rotator
cuff but this time around, we're going to go inwards but
we're going to resist against it by placing our hand right on
the edge of that door frame. So, from here, what I'm going
to do is just push in as much as I can, hold this for about
five seconds, and then I'm going to relax and then repeat
this for 10 to 15 complete repetitions, and it's always a
good idea that when you're done on one side to switch to the
other, keep them both in balance. So in the last part,
we're going to tie everything together to help build
stability into the shoulders the shoulder blades, and the
rotator cuffs through really good dynamic movements. This
exercise is known as the swimmer and it's best done in
bed. Start off on your stomach. Have your shoulders and head
off the edge. What I'm going to do is start off with my arms
straight at the elbow. Palms will be up towards the ceiling.
Just overlap your hands in the small of the lower back. From
there, what I'm going to do is press down with my hands into
my lower back and then wing my elbows up towards the ceiling.
The more that you bring the elbows up, the more that you're
activate into the chest, into the shoulders, and upper back.
Really focus on that. You want to hold this comfortably for
about five seconds. From there, what I'm going to do is then
straighten my elbows out and then point my hands roughly 30
to 45 degrees away from my body. Palms will still be up
towards the ceiling. From there, I'm going to raise my
palms up towards the ceiling and this becomes a very deep
activation of those muscles. So, really challenge yourself
with this. Again, hold for about 5 seconds. Then, movement
what I'm going to do are bring my hands and arms in front of
me but I'm also going to rotate those shoulders so now my palms
are facing down towards the floor. From here, my arms are
going to be straight at the elbows. Again, roughly 30 to 45
degrees out from me or I should say away from the body and then
I'm going to raise up with my hands towards the ceiling.
You'll notice that this activates the shoulder and
those rotator cuffs just a little bit differently. Hold
this for five seconds and then you're going to go into the
last part. Take your hands and then place them on the back of
the head just like this. Again, we're winging the elbows up
towards the ceiling and this really activates into the chest
into the shoulders. Five-second hold. From there, you're just
going to go into reverse. So, go off to the side again, raise
them up, hold that for five seconds, and then when you're
done, you're just going to come back, rotate those shoulders so
the palms are up towards the ceiling, raise those up, hold
that for five seconds, and then go back to the starting
position where your hands are in, I should say on the small
of the lower back winging those elbows up like this. Try to do
this for 3 to 5 complete repetitions. It's just a good
way to really just focus on so many muscle groups and
hopefully get a lot of good rotator pain relief. If the
exercise has helped, please support the channel by giving
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any comments or questions, please leave them below. I'll
get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks so much for
watching!