Shoulder Circles

To restore thoracic rotation to the left:

The patient is lying on their right side with their hips flexed between 45-60º and their hands out in front of them.

• Instruct the patient to take their left arm and sweep their hand up over the head with the hand remaining in contact with the floor and the elbow straight.
• The patient is encouraged to rotate their trunk and rib cage back as they circle around, but keep the knees together. They only circle around as far as they can while keeping the hand touching the floor.
• Instruct the patient to follow their hand with their eyes as they circle around with an emphasis on opening the chest.
• If the hand comes off the floor the patient is instructed to reverse directions and circle around the opposite way.
• Have the patient repeat the exercise 5-6 times in a clockwise and counterclockwise direction on each side.