Frozen Shoulder Exercises (UK, 2026): The NHS Programme by Stage, What to Avoid and What Helps
Frozen shoulder exercises work only when they match the stage you are in: gentle movement in the painful stage, assisted stretches in the stiff stage, strengthening as it thaws. This guide sets out the programme NHS physiotherapy leaflets use, with reps and frequency, the exercises to avoid, and when to add physio, an injection or a scan.
Quick Answer
The exercises for frozen shoulder that NHS physiotherapists issue come in three stages. Painful (freezing) stage: pendulum swings, hand and wrist movements and shoulder-blade squeezes, four to five times a day, within comfort; the aim is pain relief, not stretching. Stiff (frozen) stage: assisted stretches where your good arm or a stick does the work: assisted forward flexion, external rotation with a stick, arm overhead lying down, the butterfly, reaching up the back with a towel; five to ten repetitions, once or twice a day, easier after a warm shower. Thawing stage: active forward flexion, abduction and external rotation, ten repetitions three times a day, then add a one-kilogram weight or a resistance band.
The rules: go only as far as is comfortable, never force, expect aching and stretching but not sharp pain, stop or do not progress if symptoms are worse afterwards, do not sleep on the arm, and ask for physiotherapy if there is no improvement after six to twelve weeks. What a physio, a steroid injection, hydrodilatation or surgery costs privately is in frozen shoulder treatment UK. This is general information, not medical advice.
Check it is a frozen shoulder before you stretch it.
Frozen shoulder stiffens slowly with no injury. A shoulder that became weak or impossible to lift after a fall or a wrench may be a rotator cuff tear, which needs a GP or urgent treatment centre within days, not stretching. A shoulder that is hot, red and swollen with a fever can be an infection: call NHS 111 the same day. Call 999 for shoulder or left-arm pain with chest pain, breathlessness or sweating. NHS leaflets say exercises should be done only when the shoulder is not too painful, taken only as far as is comfortable, and never forced. This page is general information, not medical advice.
Two Different Routes: Treating the Shoulder You Have vs Covering the Next Problem
If your shoulder is frozen now, health insurance will not pay for it: every UK insurer excludes conditions and symptoms you already have or have seen a doctor about. The fast route for a current frozen shoulder is self-pay: a private physiotherapist within days to set the programme below and progress it, and, if the painful phase is unbearable, a private steroid injection or hydrodilatation within weeks rather than after a 6-to-12-week NHS physio trial. Prices for all of those are in our frozen shoulder treatment guide and private physiotherapy costs.
If you want the next problem seen in weeks rather than months, that is what health insurance does: it covers new conditions that start after you join, and most policies include physiotherapy, scans and injections for them. About one in ten people get a frozen shoulder in the other arm within five to seven years, and under a moratorium policy a condition you have had symptoms of in the last five years stays excluded until two years clear, so read how pre-existing conditions work and does health insurance cover physio? before you buy.
On this page
- The three stages, and why the exercises change
- Before you start: how hard, how often, how much pain
- Painful (freezing) stage exercises
- Stiff (frozen) stage exercises
- Thawing stage: strengthening
- Stick, towel, pulley, wall, bands and pool
- Exercises and habits to avoid
- After an injection, hydrodilatation or manipulation
- Menopause, diabetes and who gets it
- When exercises are not enough: physio, injections and the private route
- Frequently asked questions
The Three Stages, and Why the Exercises Change
A frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is the capsule around the ball-and-socket joint becoming inflamed and then contracting, so the arm will not move even when someone else moves it for you. NHS leaflets describe three overlapping phases, and the right exercise depends on which one you are in:
| Stage | How long (NHS Fife / Sherwood Forest) | What it feels like | What exercise is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painful (“freezing”) | 2 to 9 months | Pain builds gradually, worse with movement and at night; movement starts to reduce | Keeping the joint gently moving without provoking it; pain relief comes first and forcing the joint can increase pain |
| Stiff (“frozen”) | 4 to 12 months | Pain eases but stiffness increases, especially twisting movements such as reaching behind the back or head; external rotation is usually the most affected | Assisted stretching to keep and slowly regain range, within an aching rather than painful limit |
| Recovery (“thawing”) | 5 to 26 months (1 to 3 years in some leaflets) | Pain and stiffness gradually ease; normal use returns | Active movement and strengthening so the muscles catch up with the returning range |
The whole course runs 12 to 42 months, about 30 months on average, and King’s College Hospital quotes one to four years. Doing the stiff-stage stretches in the painful stage is the most common mistake, and the reason many people say exercises made them worse. If you are not sure which stage you are in, or whether it is a frozen shoulder at all, frozen shoulder treatment UK covers diagnosis and rotator cuff tear symptoms the condition it is most often confused with.
Before You Start: How Hard, How Often, How Much Pain
- Pain level. NHS Fife: aching or stretching sensations are normal; forcing the joint in the painful phase can increase pain. King’s College Hospital: go only as far as you can comfortably, without trick movements; movement should increase over time and should not be forced; stop or do not progress if symptoms increase. A reasonable test is that any increase in pain settles within half an hour of finishing; if it lasts into the next day, do less.
- Frequency. Painful stage: short sessions four to five times a day (King’s). Stiff stage: one to two sessions a day (Fife), five repetitions built up as pain allows (Sherwood Forest). Thawing stage: three times a day, ten repetitions (King’s).
- Warm first. NHS Fife notes the exercises may be easier after a hot shower or bath; a heat pack for 10 to 15 minutes does the same. Ice for up to 15 minutes, never directly on the skin, is for pain after activity.
- Keep a diary of exercises, symptoms and what aggravates or eases them (Sherwood Forest); it is what a physiotherapist will ask for.
- Start only if the shoulder is not too painful, and get the diagnosis confirmed first if there was an injury.
Painful (Freezing) Stage Exercises
From King’s College Hospital’s Stage One programme, done four to five times a day, each only if symptoms do not increase:
- Pendulum. Stand and lean forward, supporting yourself on a table with your good hand, and let the affected arm hang and relax. Swing it gently forwards and backwards, then side to side, then in small clockwise circles, for about one to two minutes in total. NHS Fife suggests five to ten swings in each direction. The movement comes from your body rocking, not from the shoulder muscles; this is the one exercise that is safe at every stage.
- Hand and wrist. Open and close the hand 10 to 15 times; bend the wrist up and down 10 to 15 times. After a few days, squeeze a soft ball or a rolled pair of socks as hard as is comfortable, hold for five seconds, repeat ten times. These keep the arm from stiffening further down and are safe when the shoulder itself is too sore to move.
- Posture squeeze. Pull the shoulders back and squeeze the shoulder blades together; hold 20 to 30 seconds, repeat five times. Sherwood Forest adds gentle shoulder shrugs, lifting the shoulders up and back in a smooth circle.
That is the whole list for the painful stage, and all of it can be done at home with no equipment. Stretching, pulleys, bands and anything that pushes the arm beyond its comfortable range wait until the pain has settled. Night pain is the usual problem at this stage; sleeping on the other side with a pillow supporting the arm, and painkillers timed for bedtime, are what NHS leaflets suggest, and an injection is considered if pain is not controlled.
Stiff (Frozen) Stage Exercises
Once pain is easing and stiffness is the main problem, the aim is assisted stretching: your good arm, a stick or gravity does the lifting, and the affected shoulder is taken to the point of stretch and held, not bounced. Five to ten repetitions, once or twice a day (NHS Fife), or five repetitions built up as pain allows (Sherwood Forest):
- Assisted forward flexion (arm overhead, lying down). Lie on your back, hold the affected wrist with the other hand and lift the arm up and overhead as far as is comfortable, starting with the elbow bent if needed. Lying down takes gravity out of it, which is why NHS Fife and Sherwood Forest both start here. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Standing, the same exercise is done by using the good hand to lift the arm forward (King’s Stage Two, repeat 10 times).
- External rotation with a stick. Sit or lie with the elbow tucked into your side and bent to 90 degrees, holding a stick, umbrella, golf club or broom handle in both hands. Use the good arm to push the affected hand outwards, away from the midline, keeping the elbow in. Repeat 5 to 10 times. Sherwood Forest’s version is lying on your back with the elbows resting on folded towels level with the shoulders. External rotation is the movement a frozen shoulder loses first and regains last, so this is the key stretch; without a stick, hold the wrist and guide the arm outwards.
- Butterfly stretch. Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, hands behind the neck or head, elbows pointing up; let the elbows fall outwards towards the floor. Repeat five times (NHS Fife). This stretches external rotation and abduction together.
- Arm behind the back (internal rotation) with a towel. Hold a towel or stick behind your back and use the good arm to draw the affected hand up the back as far as is comfortable (Sherwood Forest). This is the “reaching for a bra strap or back pocket” movement and is usually the slowest to return.
- Stick lift behind the back. Holding a stick behind you, roll the shoulders back and down, then use the stick to lift the affected arm up and out behind you (Sherwood Forest).
- Worktop stretch. Lean forward with your elbows on a stable worktop and hands together, then walk your feet backwards until you feel the stretch under the arm; walk forwards to ease off (Sherwood Forest).
- Wall walk (finger ladder). Stand facing a wall, walk the fingers up it as far as is comfortable, hold, then walk them down; then repeat side-on for abduction. Many NHS departments issue this on their Physiotools handout; it is the same assisted flexion stretch using the wall instead of your other hand.
The order matters less than the hold: take the arm to the point of stretch, hold for 10 to 20 seconds while breathing normally, ease off, repeat. Aching that fades within half an hour is expected; sharp pain, or a shoulder that is worse the next day, means the stretch was too hard or the stage is still too painful.
Thawing Stage: Strengthening
As movement returns, the muscles around the shoulder, which have been doing less for months, need loading so the range you regain is usable. King’s College Hospital’s Stage Three, three times a day, ten repetitions of each, and only once the assisted stretches are comfortable:
- Active forward flexion. Thumb up, raise the arm forward and up, keeping it close to the body, without hitching the shoulder.
- Active abduction. Thumb up and outwards, move the arm in a large arc out to the side.
- Active external rotation. Elbow at your side and bent to about 90 degrees, rotate the forearm outwards.
- Add load. Once these are easy, hold a one-kilogram dumbbell or a small bag of sugar, or loop a light resistance band (theraband) under your foot or round a door handle for the same three movements. Progress slowly; this is strength for the rotator cuff and shoulder-blade muscles, not a gym programme.
- Isometrics. Pushing the hand gently against a wall or door frame in each direction without the joint moving, holding five to ten seconds, is a useful bridge between the stiff and thawing stages because it builds strength without stretching the capsule.
Keep the stiff-stage stretches going throughout the thawing stage; King’s suggests continuing the programme for six months to maintain movement. Scapular (shoulder-blade) control, rows with a band and gentle rotator cuff work are what a physiotherapist adds in this phase; private physiotherapy and physiotherapy costs cover getting that programme quickly.
Stick, Towel, Pulley, Wall, Bands and Pool
| Tool | What it is for | Stage |
|---|---|---|
| Stick, wand, umbrella, golf club, broom handle | External rotation and overhead stretches: the good arm pushes the affected one | Stiff |
| Towel | Reaching up the back (internal rotation); wrist support for lying flexion | Stiff |
| Door pulley | Assisted overhead flexion and abduction with the good arm pulling | Stiff |
| Wall or finger ladder | Assisted flexion and abduction by walking the fingers up | Stiff |
| Resistance band, light dumbbell, bag of sugar | Strengthening flexion, abduction and rotation once range is comfortable | Thawing |
| Warm pool or hydrotherapy | Warmth and buoyancy make assisted stretches easier; gentle breaststroke-style arm movements, not front crawl | Stiff and thawing |
| Yoga, Pilates, tai chi | Useful for posture and shoulder-blade control if poses are modified to the comfortable range; avoid weight-bearing on the arm and overhead binds until thawing | Stiff and thawing, modified |
None of the equipment is essential: the NHS programmes above need a stick and a towel, and the pendulum needs nothing. Exercise machines, foam rollers and massage balls do not stretch the capsule and are not part of NHS programmes.
Exercises and Habits to Avoid
- Forcing the joint in the painful stage. NHS Fife’s leaflet says this can increase pain. Stretching waits for the stiff stage.
- Bouncing, jerky or fast movements; Sherwood Forest notes pain is likely to increase if the arm is moved too quickly or jarred.
- Trick movements: hitching the shoulder up or leaning the trunk to get the hand higher. The range is not real and it strains the neck.
- Heavy overhead lifting, pressing and pull-ups, and front crawl or butterfly in the pool, until the thawing stage.
- Sleeping on the affected arm and the specific daily movements that aggravate your pain.
- Stopping altogether. Complete rest lets the capsule tighten further; the aim is relative rest with gentle movement. The same applies to older people and anyone told to rest the arm after a fall or surgery: keeping the shoulder gently moving is the main way to prevent a frozen shoulder developing in the first place, and the pendulum and posture exercises above are safe at any age.
Lower-body training, walking, cycling and single-arm work with the other arm are fine throughout and help with the low mood that a year of poor sleep brings.
After an Injection, Hydrodilatation or Manipulation
A corticosteroid injection, hydrodilatation (hydro-distension, where fluid is injected to stretch the capsule), manipulation under anaesthetic or arthroscopic capsular release each creates a window of less pain or more movement; exercises are what keep it. After an injection, the stiff-stage stretches are usually started or stepped up within a few days once the soreness settles. After hydrodilatation or manipulation, the hospital gives a specific programme, usually starting the same or the next day, with frequent assisted and then active range-of-movement work for several weeks, because the capsule will tighten again if it is not moved; follow that programme rather than this page. What each procedure involves, who it suits and what it costs privately are in frozen shoulder treatment UK, and PRP injections covers the alternative some private clinics offer.
Menopause, Diabetes and Who Gets It
Frozen shoulder affects 1 to 3% of UK adults (Sherwood Forest) or at least one in fifty people a year (NHS Fife), most often between 40 and 60, with women aged 40 to 59 at highest risk (King’s). It is more common in people with diabetes, thyroid problems, Dupuytren’s contracture and obesity, and about one in ten people get it in the other shoulder within five to seven years. The age and sex profile overlaps with the perimenopause and a hormonal link has been proposed, but the NHS leaflets do not list the menopause as a cause and the exercises are the same whatever the trigger; if shoulder pain is part of a wider pattern of menopausal symptoms, a menopause clinic can look at the whole picture, and a diabetes test or a thyroid test is worth considering if you have not had one, since both conditions make frozen shoulder more likely and slower to recover.
When Exercises Are Not Enough: Physio, Injections and the Private Route
King’s College Hospital’s leaflet says physiotherapy is not routinely needed at first and to ask for a referral if pain has not improved after 6 to 12 weeks; NHS physiotherapy waits then vary from weeks to months by area, and the painful stage is often over before the first appointment. Specialty and operation waits are published, but physiotherapy waits mostly are not. Privately, a physiotherapist can see you within days to confirm the diagnosis, set the stage-appropriate programme and progress it, and a shoulder specialist can offer an injection or hydrodilatation within weeks if the painful stage is unbearable; an ultrasound or X-ray is sometimes used to rule out other causes (private ultrasound costs, whether you need a referral for a private MRI). The costs and the decision between injection, hydrodilatation, manipulation and surgery are in frozen shoulder treatment UK; a private GP or a private referral is the first step, and NHS shoulder surgery waits shows what the NHS surgical route looks like. For the future, health insurance for sports injuries, how Bupa covers physiotherapy and is private health insurance worth it? explain what a policy would cover for the next shoulder, and rotator cuff repair the operation for the injury most often mistaken for a frozen shoulder.
FAQs: Frozen Shoulder Exercises (2026)
What are the best exercises for a frozen shoulder?
NHS physiotherapy leaflets build frozen shoulder exercises in three stages rather than naming a single best one. In the painful stage: pendulum swings, hand and wrist movements and posture squeezes, four to five times a day, within comfort. In the stiff stage: assisted stretches in which your good arm or a stick does the lifting, such as assisted forward flexion, external rotation with a stick, arm-overhead lying on your back and the butterfly stretch, five to ten repetitions once or twice a day. In the thawing stage: active forward flexion, abduction and external rotation, ten repetitions three times a day, adding a one-kilogram weight once they are easy. Aching and stretching feelings are normal; sharp pain or symptoms that are worse afterwards mean you have gone too far. This is general information, not medical advice.
Can you exercise with a frozen shoulder, and does exercise help?
Yes, and it is the core of NHS treatment, but what you do depends on the stage. In the painful freezing stage the NHS Fife leaflet says forcing the joint can increase pain, so the aim is gentle movement and pain relief rather than stretching. Once stiffness is the main problem, specific stretching exercises are introduced, and in the recovery stage strengthening is added. Exercise does not shorten the condition dramatically, which runs 12 to 42 months on average, but it keeps the movement you have, limits how much you lose, and speeds the return of function. Stop or do not progress if symptoms increase, and ask for a physiotherapy referral if there is no improvement after 6 to 12 weeks.
What exercises should I avoid with a frozen shoulder?
Anything that forces the joint, especially in the painful stage: bouncing stretches, pushing through sharp pain, jerky or fast movements, heavy overhead lifting, and trick movements such as hitching the shoulder up to get the arm higher. NHS leaflets also advise against sleeping on the affected arm and against the specific movements that aggravate your pain. Gym work with the other arm, walking, cycling and lower-body exercise are fine, and swimming can be useful in the stiff and thawing stages as long as the stroke does not provoke pain; avoid front crawl and butterfly if they do.
Are there NHS frozen shoulder exercises I can print or download as a PDF?
Yes. Most NHS trusts publish their frozen shoulder physiotherapy leaflet as a PDF, usually with pictures of each exercise, and the programme on this page is drawn from three of them: King’s College Hospital, NHS Fife and Sherwood Forest Hospitals. Search for your local trust’s name with “frozen shoulder leaflet” to get the version your physiotherapist uses, or ask the physiotherapist for a Physiotools handout, which is the printable programme most NHS departments issue.
Is frozen shoulder linked to the menopause, and do the exercises differ?
Frozen shoulder is most common in women aged 40 to 60, which overlaps with the perimenopause, and a hormonal link has been proposed, but NHS leaflets list diabetes, thyroid problems, Dupuytren’s contracture and obesity as the recognised risk factors rather than the menopause itself. The exercises are the same whatever the trigger. If joint and muscle pain are part of a wider pattern of menopausal symptoms, a GP or menopause clinic can look at the whole picture; our private menopause clinic guide covers that route.
What exercises help after a steroid injection, hydrodilatation or manipulation?
The injection, hydrodilatation (hydro-distension) or manipulation under anaesthetic creates a window of less pain or more movement, and the exercises are what keep it. After an injection, the stiff-stage assisted stretches are usually started or increased within a few days once the soreness settles. After hydrodilatation or a manipulation, the hospital gives a specific programme, typically starting the same day or the next, with frequent assisted and then active range-of-movement work for several weeks; follow that programme rather than this page, because the aim is to stop the capsule tightening again. Pain that is severe or increasing after any procedure needs a call to the clinic.
Do resistance bands, pulleys, a stick or a towel help with frozen shoulder exercises?
They are all tools for the same assisted stretches. A stick, umbrella, golf club or broom handle lets the good arm push the affected arm into external rotation and overhead; a towel behind the back does the same for internal rotation and reaching up the back; a door-mounted pulley lets the good arm pull the affected one overhead; and walking the fingers up a wall or finger ladder is the same stretch using the wall. Resistance bands and light dumbbells belong to the thawing stage, for strengthening once the stretches are comfortable, not to the painful stage. None is essential: the NHS programmes above use only a stick and a towel.
How long does a frozen shoulder take to get better?
Longer than most people expect. NHS Fife’s leaflet gives a painful phase of 2 to 9 months, a stiff phase of 4 to 12 months and a recovery phase of 5 to 26 months, 12 to 42 months in all and about 30 months on average; Sherwood Forest’s gives 1 to 3 years for the recovery phase alone, and King’s College Hospital says 1 to 4 years. Most people recover near-normal movement eventually. Treatments such as steroid injection, hydrodilatation, manipulation under anaesthetic and arthroscopic capsular release can shorten the painful or stiff phases for some people, and are covered with costs in our frozen shoulder treatment guide.
Important Information
This 2026 guide is general information, not medical advice, and does not replace an assessment by a GP, physiotherapist or shoulder specialist; exercises carried out without that assessment are at your own risk and should be stopped if they increase your symptoms. The exercise programme, stage durations and risk factors are drawn from NHS patient leaflets published by King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (January 2021), NHS Fife (frozen shoulder leaflet v7) and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (November 2021); programmes differ between trusts and your own physiotherapist’s instructions take precedence. A shoulder that became weak or immobile after an injury, or that is hot, swollen and feverish, needs same-day assessment; shoulder or arm pain with chest pain or breathlessness needs 999. Health insurance covers new conditions that start after you join; a shoulder you already have problems with is usually excluded. If you compare insurance quotes through this site, we may receive a commission from our FCA-regulated partners at no cost to you; this does not influence our guides.
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