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I have heard of range-of-motion exercises, but what are they? Do they make a joint stronger?

Range-of-motion exercises are exercises given to a patient following an injury, surgery, or procedure on a joint that may affect how well the joint can move.

The way you can move your shoulder, for example, provides you with and example of a range of motion. If you can move your arm in all the ways it is intended, you have a good range of motion. However, someone who has pain may not be able to move the arm as well. This is a restricted range of motion.

Physiotherapists provide ROM exercises to help enlarge that target range or to keep the current range from getting smaller.

Reference: 

Kenneth E. Davis, MS, et al. The Importance of Range of Motion after Total Hip Arthroplasty. In Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research. December 2007. Vol. 465. Pp. 180-184.

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