Wall Walk Exercise for a Stiff Shoulder

WALL WALK EXERCISE FOR A STIFF SHOULDER

The wall walk slowly brings back the height you can raise your arm. Stand facing a wall about an arm’s length away, creep your fingertips upward until the reach still feels comfortable, hold 5 seconds at the top, walk them back down and repeat 10 times.

Only do this one if your physician ticked it on your home exercise sheet. Unless you are told otherwise, do the exercises you were given twice a day, every day.

How do you do the wall walk?

1. Get set: Face a wall, standing about one arm’s length away.
2. Move: Creep your fingertips upward, one small step at a time, until you reach a height that still feels comfortable. Then step them back down.
3. How many: Hold 5 seconds at your highest point. Do 10.

Why does the wall walk help?

A shoulder that has been guarded for weeks loses its reach overhead, and soon combing your hair or getting a plate down from a cabinet hurts. The wall carries part of the arm’s weight, so the joint can rise a little higher than it could on its own.

Put a small piece of tape at your highest comfortable reach. Week by week you can watch it climb. If the reach stalls, your physician looks at whether the problem is the rotator cuff or the neck.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

• Letting the shoulder ride up beside your ear.
• Bending backward to gain a few inches.
• Going beyond a mild, gentle stretch.

When should you stop and call us?

A gentle stretch, some effort, or mild next-morning soreness is fine. Stop the exercise and call (314) 886-5892 if you get any of these:

• Sharp or stabbing pain
• Pain 2 points above where you started that is still there an hour later
• New numbness, tingling or weakness in your arm or hand
• Dizziness, or any change in your vision

If you get chest pain, have trouble breathing or faint, call 911. The signs that need same-day care are listed on when a neck problem is urgent.

Bring your exercise log to each visit

Each time you finish your exercises, mark it on your log, and jot down a single pain score per day. Each visit, your technician tallies your checked days and has you demonstrate one exercise to keep your technique honest.

More neck and shoulder exercises

• Chin tuck (neck)
• Neck turn (neck)
• Side bend (neck)
• Shoulder blade squeeze (neck)
• Pendulum (shoulder)
• Outward rotation with band (shoulder)
• Band row (shoulder)
• I raise (shoulder)
• Y raise (shoulder)
• T raise (shoulder)
• A press (shoulder)

This is one part of our physiotherapy program for neck pain. Every treatment here is ordered and overseen by a physician who has examined your neck, and none begins until a physician is on site and ready to step in at once.