Biceps tendinitis usually causes pain and inflammation near the point where the biceps muscle is attached to the front of the shoulder. While you’re experiencing acute shoulder pain from biceps tendinitis, you should take a rest from the activities that are most painful but not avoid all movement. Once your pain is more manageable, you can start doing exercises to rehabilitate your shoulder. At first, exercises should be focused on stretching and restoring healthy movement. Then, you can gradually start adding in strengthening exercises.
It’s a good idea to see a physical therapist for a personalized treatment regimen that includes therapeutic exercise. In this blog post, we’ll provide step-by-step instructions for exercises to supplement your physical therapy treatments.
6 helpful physical therapy exercises to help you recover and build strength with biceps tendinitis
Exercising and rehabilitating your shoulder are key in the process of treating biceps tendinitis. In the early phases, treatments will help reduce pain and inflammation. They’ll also help improve circulation to the area to speed up the healing process. After a few sessions of more passive treatments, your PT will start incorporating more exercises and create an exercise program for you to do at home.
If any of these exercises aggravate your pain, you should stop and discuss the appropriate adjustments with your PT. Pushing yourself to exercise your shoulder through pain too soon can make your injury worse.
Try doing the following exercises to recover from biceps tendinitis and strengthen your biceps muscle:
- Biceps stretch — Stand next to a wall or a door frame. Hold out your affected arm and place your hand against the wall at about hip level with your fingers pointed down. Gently turn away from your arm until you feel the stretch in your upper arm. Hold it for 15 to 30 seconds and repeat with your other arm
- Shoulder flexion — In this exercise, you’ll keep your arm straight as you slowly raise your hand as high as you can and then lower it back down. Repeat four or five times.
- Shoulder internal rotation — Grab a towel or resistance band and hold it behind your head with your unaffected hand. Use your affected hand to grab the other end of it behind the small of your back. Hold it taut and gently pull up on the towel with your unaffected hand so your shoulder turns inward. Hold this position for about five seconds and then go back to the starting position. Repeat up to 10 times. Start in painfree ranges and try to gradually relax and move a bit higher on future repetitions
- Shoulder external rotation — For this exercise, you’ll need a stick like a yardstick or a mop handle. Hold the stick out in front of you with your palms facing up, elbows bent at 90 degrees. Use your unaffected arm to push the stick toward your affected side, gently rotating your shoulder outward. Go back to the starting position and repeat up to 10 times.
- Forearm pronation and supination — Hold your hands out in front of you, facing down, with your elbows bent at a 90-degree angle. Slowly turn your hands over until your palms are facing up. Hold for about 5 seconds and repeat up to 10 times.
- Elbow flexion — In this exercise, you’ll start with your affected arm relaxed down at your side and slowly bend your elbow. Bring your hand up to your shoulder and use your other hand to help hold it if necessary.
Get a personalized exercise plan for biceps tendinitis at Forever Fit
Shoulder pain can get in the way of the most basic activities, from preparing food at home to putting on your seatbelt in the car and waving to say hello. At Forever Fit, it’s our job to help you get back to doing the things you love. We provide natural treatments to take control of your health and help you make the fastest, most complete recovery possible.
Seeing a doctor is an important part of your health care strategy, and there are times when it’s necessary to work with a specialist. Physical therapists are able to spend more time with patients one-on-one, and in some cases, they can help you avoid more invasive and more expensive treatments. Did you know you don’t need a referral to see a physical therapist? Most services are covered by insurance, too.
Are you ready to try a more natural approach to treating biceps tendinitis? We can help. The first step is to schedule an initial appointment.