Pendulum-Swing Exercise for the Shoulder

If you have pain in your back, do not do this exercise.

While holding onto a table or the back of a chair with your good arm, bend forward a little and let your injured arm hang straight down.
This exercise does not use the arm muscles. Rather, use your legs and your hips to create movement that makes your arm swing freely.
Using the momentum from your hips and legs, guide the slightly swinging arm back and forth like a pendulum (or elephant trunk), then in circles that start small (about the size of a dinner plate) and gradually grow larger each day as pain allows.
Do this exercise for 5 minutes, 5 to 7 times each day even while your shoulder is still tender from an injury or surgery.
As you have less pain, try bending over a little farther to do this exercise. This will increase the amount of movement at your shoulder.

Current as of: June 6, 2022

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
William H. Blahd Jr. MD, FACEP - Emergency Medicine
Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine
Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine
Timothy Bhattacharyya MD - Orthopaedic Surgery, Orthopaedic Trauma

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Pendulum-Swing Exercise for the Shoulder

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