What sort of exercises do you do to help with this? I've been finding it very hard to work on shoulder strength, especially the scapula, without just impinging it more
- Prone T's/I's - Cat Cows with thoracic spine emphasis - Child's pose - Open Books - Supine Chin Tucks - Dead bugs/Bird dogs - Upper trapezius stretch - Levator scapulae stretch - Quadruped open book - Foam rolling back (every few days)
These all caused pain at various points, but as I learned to keep my shoulder rooted in the socket and learned how to correctly engage my scapula (pull down and back rather than up and back) I was able to do them without pain. I also learned to listen to my body and skip things for as long as needed when I wasn't feeling right. Pushing through nerve pain just leads to more pain. Your body will adjust eventually, but it will do it at its own pace.
EDIT:
1. Exercise frequency: daily/as tolerated
2. I also scrape the muscles in my inner forearms with a fascia release tool (butterknife, but you can find real ones online) a few times a week and this helps tremendously.
He recommended I exercise every day, I picked just before bedtime as a constant so it's easier to remember.
Instead of sets and repetitions he gave me the rule to just keep going with each exercise until I can't anymore (and that doesn't take much in the beginning).
Finally he gave me the advice to always choose exercises from three different categories: push, pull, and legs.
So you could get started with (1) pull ups/rows/flys, (2) standing push ups and finish with (3) squats for example. There's tons of charts online. Rows and flys are good for strengthening your shoulders.
Also, remember to take the exercises slowly and be mindful/aware of your motions and posture. Don't rush through them, put some music on, put your phone away, focus on the exercises! Quality over quantity.
Hope this helps. It worked wonders for me!
Any exercise transmitting force through the shoulder forces the scapula to hold (otherwise the rotator cuff would get injured instead; learn to avoid that before starting).
Pulling a resistance band is a good start; eg stand on the band and curl up, or wrap it around a doorknob and pull across the body.
Finally, if you’re well paid, get a physiotherapist or physical therapist to walk you through the exercises; the money is well worth avoiding the injury risk.
But more seriously, I did tai-chi in the past and found that a very reasonable low-impact way of developing strength in various areas.