“What is the best exercise for shoulder bursitis?”

For joint rehabilitation, the first step is always restoration of normal range of motion of the joint. Shoulder is the most mobile joint of the body. The normal range of motion of the shoulder joint is up to 180 degrees in forward flexion and abduction, 90 degrees in external rotation, 80 degrees in internal rotation, 70 degrees in backward extension, and 30 degrees in adduction. The normal range of motion for dancers should be a lot more than persons with an ordinary job duty. Patients with shoulder pain always have some limited range of motion and shoulders with more severely limited range of motion are more painful and more functional limitation. While we always have to fight for gaining normal range of motion and therefore tolerate some pain in the exercises, deep heat modalities such as therapeutic ultrasound prior to or during the active and passive range of motion exercises as well as gentle and sustained stretching are very helpful to decrease pain and achieve better outcome.

The real issue is the rotator cuff. Pain control (sometimes cortisone injection) followed by rehab exercise are keys to treatment.