Hi everyone - just got dx’ed this week with FS. My first PT is this morning. It was such a revelation to hear the doctor say to move it, not baby it. I had been keeping it as still as possible thinking eventually it would heal up. Feeling better just since I started moving it more, though it’s more sore & achy at night. Has anyone had the experience of banging their shoulder on a door jamb or something, then having to lean over & take deep breaths because of the excruciating pain?
@GertrudeMcFuzz, YES!!! Isn’t it unbelievable how painful it is? I wish it had a more sympathy-earning name than “Frozen Shoulder”. That sounds like your shoulder tingles a little like your hands when you make a snowball without gloves. Something like Excruciating Shoulder, or perhaps !@#$!%& Shoulder, would be more apropos.
I have yelped out loud at the grocery store when I momentarily forget and reach too high. It takes my breath away when I forget and do something I shouldn’t have.
The worst motions for me is anything that is like a frisbee throwing motion. Like swinging our gate open or tossing socks in the hamper. I always grab my husband’s socks off the floor (no comments please - he’s otherwise a gem) and fling them frisbee style across the room into our hamper. Not sure why but I just always have done it that way. It’s kind of fun. But now I have to carry them across the room and drop them into the hamper. Oh, how frozen shoulder has drastically changed my lifestyle! 
Riding a bike doesn’t hurt at all, so I have been doing more of that lately.
@GertrudeMcFuzz I don’t even have to bump into something. I’ve had that stabbing pain from just jumping to avoid stepping on the dog.
@Barfly, one of the frustrating things is that the whole thing is not sympathy-inducing at all. My family is sympathic, but I know when I’m out in public, no one has a clue how much pain I’m in. If you see someone on crutches or bandaged up, it’s natural to feel sympathy for that person. Not that I really need sympathy, but sometimes I just don’t feel like going with the flow. My D’s friends and their moms are getting together and…would it be okay if I just drop her off? I want to socialize, but I just don’t feel up to it. We go out to dinner and I just don’t feel up to putting on makeup, just to take it off later. It’s really draining. Some days are better than others, for sure, and I’m hoping things will improve with the cortisone shot I got this week.
So, I had my first PT appt. It basically consisted of the therapist moving my arm to see how far it could go before it started to hurt, then making it go further - yikes. Strangely, it felt good overall. Moving the shoulder hurts in the moment, but then feels a little better immediately after. I suspect I’ll pay for it tonight.
You’ll have to come to this forum for sympathy, @momonymous. Now, if we could wear our arms in slings for all the world to see, perhaps then we’d feel the love out in public. Of course, a sling is the last thing frozen shoulders need! When I finally saw a doctor, I thought how nice it would be to come home with a sling because I thought my shoulder felt better when I rested it. How clueless! It is a relief for me, though, now that I know to keep moving and that I’m not doing any damage by moving. Just hearing from the doctor that I can’t do permanent damage to my shoulder joint was a big relief.
@barfly - I like your term “!@#$!%& Shoulder”. Maybe we should call it RFU shoulder (really f’d up shoulder) for short.
LOL (no - really LOL) @GertrudeMcFuzz.
Laughing out loud does not hurt my RFU shoulder, thank goodness.
Thanks for the response @walkinghome.
I ditched the heavy purse a few years ago. I don’t miss it.
I wish I could take my rfu shoulder, rip it out of the socket, untangle things, clean crap up, lube up the joints and stick it back in again. Hubby feels knots in the back of my shoulder. I don’t have it in me to let my chiropractor sister in law dry needle it or get a deep tissue massage. It’s so tender it would be the most expensive cut of meat at the steakhouse. (eeewwww…)
@eyemamom, knots here in the back of my RFU shoulder as well. Not sure I’m willing to undergo the shoulderectomy you want however.
eyemamom - I don’t know if this is acceptable for the RFU situation so please verify before trying, but if so can you tolerate your H pressing his thumb down and holding the pressure on shoulder knot. Or try strategically placing a tennis ball between your shoulder and the wall and wiggling around until you can apply your own pressure. (I keep a tennis ball in an old tube sock so I can keep it from falling on the floor) The problem with knots is that they tend to get tighter and tighter. What about some isometrics in the shoulder area to at least get the blood flowing for healing.
Frozen shoulder sounds like a horrible ailment.
The cortisone shot has helped, but I’m still feeling some pain, down my arm and across my back. I’m still taking an NSAID twice a day, and my DH is getting concerned that it may do liver damage. The ortho’s nurse practitioner said I should try to take a month off, but I just don’t think I can do that yet. Especially when I go to PT.
I do have a massage scheduled in a couple of days, hoping that will help, but I’m wondering…What do others do for the pain?
Flexeril at night, cuz it makes me sleepy. Advil or Alleve during the day.
I had it 5, 7 years ago. Physical therapy made it go away in 4 months. Microwavable heat pad and hot shower helps reducing pain before exercising. 3 most effective exercises recommended by my second PT (the first one was no good) are:
- Put both arms on the walls at the corner of the room and lean the body on them (most painful but most effective).
- Hold one hand on the end side of a wall then pull the body to the otherside. Repeat for the other hand
- Walk the fingers up and down a wall.
I’m taking aleve right now. Flexeril and stronger stuff makes me useless. I do all the exercised/stretches above along with a few others. I have a hot tub that finally got fixed and I’ll be hopping in there in a few minutes. I also get massages, but I can’t do what it takes to really break it up in there…too wimpy. I am now using the tennis ball thanks to the suggestion above. I’m also really trying to limit computer time.
Thanks @bookworm, @coolweather, & @eyemamom. Unfortunately, Advil and Aleve are both NSAIDs, too. I may try to transition from my prescription Naproxen to one of those if I can’t go cold turkey. Then maybe transition off from there. Initially, my PCP put me on Naproxen + Flexeril. I tried the Flexeril one night by itself, and had a bad night. Of course, could have just been bad luck.
I did get a little panicky last night when I read the warnings on the Naproxen and Advil, and it said not to take it for more than 10 days without consulting a doctor. Of course, I did consult a doctor and they told me to try to lay off the NSAIDs for a month. So, I guess I should.
I’m going to try to do without any meds today. We’ll see how it goes. I have some Motrin/Advil if it gets too bad. And I may try Bengay first. I sometime use Bengay if I wake up in the middle of the night, and it does help, but of course it smells pretty strongly. Oh, and I already took a warm shower, and will ice it throughout the day, as well.
I managed to sleep during the most painful time by keeping an ice chest next to the bed and using several ice packs through the night. At this stage I was unable to find medication that was effective.
Have any of you done the cortisone shot? Did you find it helpful? Tremendously painful? Debating whether I should suck it up and make an appointment for a shot with the ortho.
I’ve had the shot both times (for each shoulder). The first time it was initially horribly painful, but then relieved the pain a fair amount. The second was effective (but without the excruciating pain).
I have had frozen shoulder twice. Super painful. My doctor advised that the cortisone shot wouldn’t really address the issue - it would be temporary relief only. I did PT both times, and absolutely hated it. While PT gave me some mobility, it was painful and sometimes I thought it was making things worse. After about 4 months of PT the first time, I stopped, and the shoulder started feeling better in a matter of weeks. Second time I had it, I did PT for about 6 weeks, then stopped, and again the frozen shoulder resolved itself over the next couple of months.