Not to be confused with giving someone the cold shoulder, but I was just diagnosed with “frozen shoulder”. After months of pain and now near inability to move my shoulder, I finally went to see an orthopedic surgeon. Good news, no surgery needed. Apparently this will resolve on it’s own, but may take up to 3 YEARS!
Anyone who has dealt with this who can give me some advice, encouragement, or sympathy? Due to the stupid name of this syndrome, my family has no clue how painful it is and is not showering me with love nor feeding me peeled grapes.
I thought I might have had this last fall, and so I did a search here on CC and found several threads that were helpful.
It ends up I didn’t have it, but in my search, I learned that frozen shoulder is the most common menopause symptom in women in Japan! Google it and you will find all kinds of results that relate how the loss of estrogen can play into it.
I did have another condition, which my doctor did prescribe occupational therapy. It healed nicely, but after the first of the year I got lazy with my exercises, and it tends to get aggravated from time to time.
I spent all last year with frozen shoulder, in my dominant arm. I actually wound having to trade in my car because I could no longer drive a stick shift, for the first time in 35 years. I had to relearn how to do things as simple as putting on a shirt – put the frozen arm through the sleeve first, then reach around with the good arm for the other sleeve. I found myself using curse words I didn’t even realize I knew, often in public, especially in the grocery store – anything that involves reaching becomes its own adventure in @#$%!.
Most people have no idea how debilitating it can be and how long it can last, so you won’t get a lot of sympathy. Just find ways to cope with the day-to-day and be patient, it will eventually resolve itself on its own. Good luck!
P.S. I’ll pass along a metric ton of sympathy to you!
Frozen shoulder, and its chronic lingering effects, is one of the most painful things I’ve endured and it has greatly affected my quality of life. Sorry, that sounds harsh, but it hurts! Mine was a result of trying to be a good girl and not move at all after breast surgery. I couldn’t move my elbow away from my rib cage for months, and I’m a CPA and need to use a keyboard and calculator for 10 hours a day. The breast surgeon wasn’t helpful when I kept complaining.
My GP recommended several PT exercises which finally improved, the shoulder but it’s been 2.5 years and the freedom of movement is still not right and I still have pain sometimes. Actually attending PT probably would’ve been a good idea and one I would recommend.
Oh, no @chuwo! You are not offering the encouragement I need!
At least it is in my non-dominant arm! But I tend to forget about it and do something simple like reach in the dryer and then I use those same curse words you invented!
I was relieved to hear I will probably not need surgery. And I’m already in stage 2, meaning I may be half way through the whole stupid process. Truly I cannot believe how painful this is, and I had natural childbirth!
Here’s what I did: worked it loose. I found that being gentle didn’t help and it kept hurting. So I lay down on the floor, pinned my arm down with a dumbbell and started to stretch. Over a period of a few weeks, I found ways to work my body to increase the range of motion. From not being able to extend my arm at all or put it over my head. I don’t know what stage I was in but it wasn’t early so rampant inflammation wasn’t the issue. The other thing I did and still do is work with resistance bands. I find using them releases all sorts of adhesions with minimal pain. What I did may be dramatic, but I have a high pain threshold and couldn’t put up with it any longer.
@sryrstress, the orthopedic surgeon did not recommend PT, but gave me a couple pages of exercises, which I am doing (he said not to do them to the point of pain, but that would mean not doing them).
I read that it can be the result of a trauma (even a very minor one) or a situation like yours. In my case, it was a very minor trauma - reached for something in a weird way, felt a pop, sudden pain, then for months increased pain and now the stiffness. But I have several of the risk factors so there’s that!
I had a steroid shot & physical therapy for a few weeks.
It still is a little painful at times, but I have full use of my arm now.
I had it for a very long time, before I finally figured out that it wasn’t going away on its own.
I have a habit of that.
My H has had that in both shoulders, a couple of years apart. He never goes to doctors but finally went for this. He was completely miserable so you have my sympathy! It did take him over a year each time to resolve, even with pt.
I had it for a couple of years a few years ago. It is very painful. I couldn’t raise my arm over shoulder level and if I picked up something with that hand I didn’t have the strength to lift it. After 2 years of no improvement, I was at a stitching weekend with friends and they had a masseuse come in. She asked if I had any problem areas and I mentioned the shoulder so she worked on it. A couple of hours later I was in terrible pain, the nauseous bone deep kind, and thought “that was a mistake”. Next day I went to reach for something and realised that, for the first time in 2 years, I was able to raise my arm over shoulder level. Had a couple more massages and my shoulder rapidly improved. May be worth a try. Good luck, I feel for you!!
PT also worked very well for me (I got two frozen shoulders out of the blue) , there are certain angles to stretch that the PTs know, and they also know not to push too hard and cause more inflammation. Refer yourself to a PT who works with shoulders.
@Lergnom, so you basically forced your arm into positions through the pain? I’m willing to try that. The doctor said basically I couldn’t do anything to damage it or make it worse, and that was my main concern. He just said if I overdo something, the pain will be worse. Can you tell me more?
It wakes me up every night, and that stinks. And it limits me in other ways. Plus every so often I yelp in public, which is embarrassing!
Sounds like PT has worked for many of you. The orthopedic surgeon said PT doesn’t help and he did not write me a prescription for PT, but he did say if I wanted to try it, he would write me a prescription. I said no since he told me it wouldn’t work, but I think maybe I will try it after all. Real world experience trumps!
PT worked very well for me. The orthopedic surgeon tried a cortisone shot, which was an abject failure. We wanted to avoid surgery, so he had me go to a PT. From about 3% range of motion to about 98% in 6 months. When my other shoulder started acting the same way, I got started quicker and it only took about 3 months.
I couldn’t carry anything, swing my arm, hold hands, pick up the kids, sleep, rollover, nothing. The exercises, ultrasound, and TENS worked wonders. At the beginning, I was in tears after every session, but the pain if I didn’t go was far worse I’m surprised your dr doesn’t want you to have PT.
14 years later, as soon as I get a twinge I start the exercises right up.
@zeebamom, the dr said PT wouldn’t help and wouldn’t speed up the progression. He basically said to wait it out and take pain meds or cortisone shots as needed. But it sounds like PT DOES help!
By the way, curious about your “name”. Are you a Pearls Before Swine fan (the zeebas)?
I had it in BOTH shoulders for a year before i went to a doctor in the US. Couldnt raise my arms high enough to clap my hands above my head. Hoisting my bag into an airplane overhead bin was agony.
Finally had a cortisone injection in.both shoulder sockets-- man, did that needle hurt! But it helped. The condition finally cleared up completely. You’re going to need to physio and/or exercise to stretch the scarred ligament tissue to regain full range of mobility. The less u move yr shoulder, the more “frozen” it becomes. Vicious cycle.
Doctor also prescribed exercises to stretch the shoulder ligaments. One particularly helpful exercise for me:
Lie on your back. Hold a stick w both hands, hands apart shoulder width & arms completely extended. Slowly raise the stick and ease it back above your head towards the floor. Feel the stretch in your shoulders.
Another exercise was clapping my hands above my head.
P.S. @Barfly, I gave u a “Like” for encouragement & sympathy. I’ll peel u a grape.
Barfly, I think I would try and get another opinion. No personal experience but H has an autoimmune disease that went untreated for years and told nothing could be done. Until he found the right physician…
I, too, had frozen shoulder a few years ago. I booked a physical therapy appointment about 2 months after first feeling pain. Physical therapy helped me a lot – I went twice a week. I did the exercises religiously and it cleared up much sooner than the 2-3 years they say it can take. So, count me as another person highly recommending PT – although you really have to do the exercises and stretching.
I swim once a week now, and do the backstroke a lot. I hope that helps prevent this from happening again – I now know that if I feel any pain, the worst thing to do is restrict movement (which is what I did when I first felt discomfort when I got frozen shoulder). I remember my PT telling me how most people get worse because they baby the shoulder.
Bless my orthopedic doctor. I had PT for a few months, and 2 injections in shoulder. I went to Pilates 3x a week for past 3 years. still do not have full mobility, and still have Flexiril when pain is bad, but it does get better. Hang in there, and exercise, but not to excess.
Sorry barfly. I has this about 5 years ago. Ortho prescribed PT. Had one month of passive, mundane PT. What saved me was a new PT who saw me twice a week for about 4-5 months. Since FS is caused by adhesions, she methodically “broke them down”. She stretched and pulled, while my job was to breathe through it and do exercises at home. It was brutal at times, but spared me surgery. I regained my range of motion and strength. The month of pedaling a “bike” with my hands and walking my fingers up and down a door frame was ineffective. She also did some ultra-sound and electro-stim, but I think it was the manipulation that mattered most in my outcome.
I know elders who had many years of what was likely undiagnosed frozen shoulder. Tough road to take. I’d be aggressive in seeking input from PT people. Also, since I could not move when I first saw ortho, I agreed to a cortisone shot. The one shot gave me enough pain relief to endure the PT. YMMV. Just want to let you know things can improve. Hang in there.
