Are you looking for the best cane exercises for the shoulder because you have a stiff or painful shoulder? Well, frozen shoulders, also known as adhesive capsulitis, could heal by doing simple wand workouts.
Doing wand workouts, which involves using a cane, broomstick, PVC pipe, or any sort of cane you may have, improves your shoulder mobility. The best workouts for frozen shoulders are lifting the arm overhead, external shoulder rotation, and internal shoulder rotation.
Shoulder workouts are essential for relieving pain. They also aid in a range of motions while strengthening your shoulders. So, how do you do shoulder workouts using a cane?
What are the Benefits of Wand Exercises in the Shoulders?
Before focusing on the benefits of wand exercises for the shoulders, it is necessary to know what a shoulder wand is. A shoulder wand is a collapsible stretching cane for anyone with motion issues and problems stretching the scar tissue around the shoulder.
So, the purpose of wand exercises for the shoulders is to increase the range of motion and improve scar tissues around the shoulders.
What, therefore, are the benefits of shoulder-strengthening exercises with a wand?
When you use a wand, you strengthen the shoulder joints, helping them stay stable. When your shoulder joints are strong, it is challenging to have shoulder pains or experience further injury even after a cane exercise for the shoulder.
Cane Exercises For the Shoulder: Best for Frozen, tight, painful shoulders!
Based on how bad your shoulders feel, it could take you only 2 days, a week, or months. A frozen shoulder, in particular, takes longer to recover; it could be anywhere between six to nine months. Or more!
It calls for your patience and consistency throughout the workout while maintaining as much range of motion to reap incredible recovery results within this period.
There are three best exercises for a frozen, tight, and hurting shoulder.
You need to have a curved cane on one end, the type the elderly use to walk. You can also use a broomstick, a wand, or anything else.
| Product for Cane Exercises for the shoulder | Rating | Seller |
| StretchNHeal Multipurpose Wooden Pranayama Stick | 4.3 | Amazon |
| Rangemaster All in one Shoulder Strengthening and Home Therapy Basic Kit | 4.7 | Amazon |
| Broom Strongest 80% Heavier Duty | 4.3 | Amazon |
| Rubbermaid Commercial Products Broom Handle | 4.5 | Amazon |
| Yocada Floor Scrub Brush 55.9″ Telescopic Handle | 4.3 | Amazon |
| HONEYBULL Walking Cane | 4.5 | Amazon |
| Trekology Trek-Z Collapsible Hiking & Trekking Poles | 4.5 | Amazon |
| Walking Cane | 4.4 | Amazon |
| BeneCane Walking Cane | 4.6 | Amazon |
| Vive LED Folding Cane with Light | 4.3 | Amazon |
Three Cane Exercises For Frozen Shoulder
Flexion Shoulder Exercise
- Stand and hold the cane with both hands, each holding one end of the cane. However, ensure that the thumb holding the curved end is facing upwards.
- To stretch your shoulders, move your hands upwards and downwards (straight flexion) at least 10 to 20 times.
- Do more reps if you feel comfortable with it. If you experience some pain, do not flex too much.
Abduction Shoulder Workout
- Stand straight while holding the cane with the thumb on the curved end of the stick facing upwards.
- Move upwards to one end. The critical thing here is moving your arm up while the other maintains a low level.
- Repeat the rep about 10 times or more as long as you are not experiencing any shoulder pain (irritating the hurting shoulder would cause more harm than good).
External Shoulder Rotation
There are several ways of doing external shoulder rotation. Here, we shall cover one way. So, do not stop reading at this point. You must try all these workouts to know which is best for your shoulder’s recovery.
- Grab a towel or a book and hold it under your armpit. Maintain 90 degrees at the curve of your arm.
- Grab the same stick you used to do the abduction and flexion workouts and hold it with your hands the same way you did above.
- While maintaining the book or whatever you have under your armpit, move the stick to your right and left.
- Repeat the rep as much as possible and keep the thumb on one end up.
Shoulder Extension
This exercise helps to stretch your shoulders as much as possible, but only do it if you do not feel any irritation. If you experience any irritation when doing shoulder extensions, please seek medical advice or rest for a few days before trying again.
- Grab the cane, PVC, broomstick, walking stick, or whatever you have, each hand holding one side.
- Move the cane backward on one side of your arm at least 10 times, then move it in the opposite direction.
- Which direction should the thumb face? This one has no rule, so hold the stick as you wish.
What Is The Best Exercise For Frozen Shoulders?
The best and most effective exercises for frozen shoulders are:
- Shoulder external rotation
- Shoulder internal rotation
- Lifting the arm overhead
Shoulder Internal Rotation
If the left shoulder is hurting, tight, or frozen, wrap it around by moving the left arm behind your back. Based on how bad your left (or right) shoulder is, your arm could go all the way behind your back or barely past your hip.
Here is the perfect way to do the internal shoulder rotation, which is one of the cane exercises for the shoulder.
- Gently use the good arm to pull the arm entirely behind your back and hold it there for a few seconds.
- If the arm barely crosses, the hip and the right arm cannot reach it to pull it over; get a rope or a belt and try pulling it between your arms.
- Let go of the arm/rope/belt and repeat the workout after 30 minutes or one hour. You can do the workouts several times a day.
Warning: If the shoulder feels pain when you stretch the arm or pull the rope behind your back, please wait a little longer to recover before trying the workout again. Alternatively, only stretch a little to keep your shoulders comfortable with the workout.
Shoulder External Rotation
- Go to the doorway of your bedroom, kitchen, or living room, and place your arm on the vertical door frame, ensuring that the elbow is flat on the door frame.
- If you are flexible enough, hold it so the elbow is high enough (the hand should be the same level as your head).
- On the contrary, if the shoulder hurts, move the elbow down to a level you are comfortable with.
Here is a tip: If moving the arm up on the door frame feels hard, move it to a level you are comfortable with, then slide it a few inches up as far as possible.
Once comfortable, move several steps away from the door frame without moving your hand off the frame. Move as far as you can until you feel a stretch at the back of your hurting shoulder.
Lifting The Arm Overhead
- Standing beside the doorway – the one you used when doing the shoulder external rotation workout – step back arm’s length so that your fingertips touch the door frame.
- Gradually move your arm up to feel the stretch on your shoulders.
- Stay in that position for a couple of seconds.
- Repeat the workout several times a day, probably once every hour.
What Is The Best Cane Exercise For A Strained Shoulder?
Apart from abduction shoulder workouts, other best cane exercises for a strained shoulder include up-the-back and bent-arm stretches.
Let us take a moment to go through them.
Up-the-Back Stretch
If you are having trouble scrubbing the back of your shoulder when showering or struggling to wear your expensive coat, you need a cane exercise for the shoulder to do the up-the-back stretches. It is the same if you are struggling to fasten your bra.
Using the cane and both arms will improve flexibility and make it easy to reach behind your shoulders without trouble.
- Stand upright and have your arms on your sides.
- Using one hand, grab the cane and move it behind your back, hold it against your back, and ensure that one of its ends is slightly above your butt.
- Gently slide the exercise cane upwards while bending the elbows as the cane moves.
- Keep moving it upwards as long as you are comfortable, and repeat this cane exercise for the shoulder about five times.
Bent-Arm Stretch
If you have trouble moving your joints due to a rotator cuff injury, you must do bent-arm stretches using a workout cane.
- With the arms on the sides, lie down and bend the elbows at 90 degrees.
- While your body is now assuming the letter L shape, tightly hold your exercise cane using your hand so the fingers face you.
- Having the elbow at 90 degrees, rotate the arms all the way above your head to the furthest you can comfortably reach.
- Once you have reached your furthest, resume the initial position and repeat the cane exercise for the shoulder about five times.
What Exercises Should You Avoid With A Frozen Shoulder?
While working out a frozen shoulder is vital in the healing journey, not all exercises help a frozen shoulder to recover. One of the exercises you should avoid with a frozen shoulder includes lifting heavy weights. Also, exercises that trigger shoulder pain, such as jarring movements, pulling, and jerky, should be avoided until the shoulders fully recover.
Aside from avoiding any exercise that triggers pain, avoid sleeping on one side for too long, as that might also trigger some chronic pain and delay the shoulder recovery process.
What Is The Fastest Way To Heal A Frozen Shoulder?
Cane exercises for the shoulder help heal frozen shoulders gradually. So, it might take up to about 12 to 18 months before they can fully recover. On the other hand, the fastest way to heal a frozen shoulder is through medical treatment.
Treatment may include:
Steroid injection: To lower the pain in your shoulders, get a corticosteroid injection, which is injected into the shoulders. The injection might also help in increasing shoulder mobility with no pain. The injections, however, are much more effective if administered soon after the start of frozen shoulders.
Hydrodilatation: To ease movement and aid in tissue stretching, you can have a sterile water injection. Based on the severity of the frozen shoulders, a steroid injection might also be combined with the sterile water injection.
Shoulder Manipulation: Manipulation of the shoulder involves a general anesthetic, and it causes you to be completely unconscious with no shoulder pain. While you are unconscious, the doctor helps loosen the tightened tissues by moving the shoulder in different directions.
Surgery: If cane exercises for the shoulder do not seem to work and injections to quicken the healing process are equally ineffective, then surgery is the only solution left.
Doctors recommend surgery for the successful removal of scar tissue which is in the frozen shoulder joint. However, only a few frozen shoulder cases reach the surgery level; most get healed through workouts or injections.
Is It Better To Rest Or Exercise A Frozen Shoulder?
It is okay to exercise frozen shoulders as long as they are not hurting. Exercise 10 to 20 times a day if you have a frozen shoulder. Always avoid going to extremes, as that might cause adverse effects.
When your frozen shoulders hurt, please rest and avoid exercising until the doctor recommends otherwise.
What Are Some Tricks For Frozen Shoulders?
A few tricks for exercising frozen shoulders could make all the difference based on how well you implement them. For example, if you correctly do outward and inward rotations, your shoulders will likely heal sooner than expected. Besides, your shoulder mobility will also improve.
This also means that you might never seek medical treatment, like injections for shoulder recovery, or have surgery which could make the situation worse than it was. Sounds too good to be true?
Let me take you through these tricks for the best results from cane exercises for the shoulder.
Outward Rotation
- Grab your cane and exercise with both hands, each holding one end of the cane. While holding the cane with both hands, ensure your arms are close to your sides and assume a 90-degree angle.
- Proceed by rotating the frozen shoulder’s lower part outward, at least 2-3 inches.
- Hold to that position for not less than 5 seconds unless you experience some pain.
- Keep repeating the workout at least 10 to 15 times every day as long as you are not having any pain.
Inward Rotation
You can use a rubber band to relieve a frozen shoulder if you do not have an exercise cane. Here is what you need to do:
- Hook one end of the elastic band to any of the closed doors in your house.
- Using the frozen shoulder’s arm, hold the other end of the elastic band and pull it 2 to 3 inches towards yourself.
- Keep the elastic band stretched for at least 5 seconds.
- Repeat the workout several times daily, at least 5 to 10 times.
What Are The Benefits Of The Broomstick Stretch?
If you cannot afford a wand or other canes, simply use what you have in the house, a broomstick! While some people recommend using an elastic band if you do not have a cane, more benefits come with using a broomstick than an elastic band.
Helps in Keeping Your Arms Wide Apart: Unlike an elastic band which is small in size, a broomstick is long. Therefore, when you place a hand on one end of the broom and the other hand on the other end, you get to stretch fully (as long as you are comfortable). Hence, you have an opportunity to stretch your shoulder way further to optimize mobility. While at it, your frozen shoulders will begin to loosen, which is one significant step to recovery.
Gives You A Chance To Workout Other Body Parts: While using a broomstick to work out, you can slightly twist your body, so your back can stretch as your shoulders stretch. Still, you can do overhead exercises with the broomstick, just like when doing cane exercises for the shoulder. Working out the Abs using a broomstick is also easy.
Parting Shot
Whether you use a cane, a PVC pipe, a walking stick, or a broomstick, shoulder exercise can be great for the recovery of your shoulders. You can see your mobility improving in only 12 to 18 months after being consistent with the cane exercises for the shoulder.
If, however, there is no good progress after being consistent with the workout, you can seek medical help. Some fastest ways to help recover frozen shoulders include shoulder manipulation, steroid injection, and hydrodilatation.
Your doctor might recommend surgery if anything else fails, but it should be the last solution. One more thing, buying a high-quality cane is rewarding because it lasts many years. Besides, if you are older, consider buying a walking stick to use when walking and exercising. Else, simply use a broomstick if you have one at home.
