Exercise Programs for Recurrent Shoulder Dislocation
Key Components of Exercise Programs
- The American College of Cardiology and other guideline societies recommend that exercise programs for recurrent shoulder dislocation include progressive resistance training, with exercises progressing from basic daily repetitions to advanced resistance training over 12 weeks, focusing on rotator cuff strengthening, scapular stabilization, and proprioceptive control, with moderate-intensity strengthening exercises performed 3 times weekly 1, 2
- The American Academy of Family Physicians suggests that patients advance to elite-level exercises, with 2 sets of 10 repetitions, 3 times weekly, and increase resistance progressively as strength improves 3
Safety and Efficacy
- Exercise is safe for musculoskeletal conditions, with very few adverse events reported, and patients should be reassured that appropriately prescribed exercises will not worsen instability, according to the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 1, 2
- Home-based programs are effective alternatives to supervised therapy for uncomplicated cases, and group or individual settings show similar efficacy, with slight benefit favoring group exercise, as reported by Praxis Medical Insights and the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases 1, 2, 4, 5