<p>Acupuncture just didn’t even occur to me or I would have tried it. </p>
<p>My SIL had the procedure where they knock you out and manipulate the frozen shoulder. It helped but was not a cure. I’m going to see her this weekend and will get a report.</p>
<p>I had one injection about a month before I was able to get into the PT. Since I was having trouble walking, I decided to have my PT start with my hips & knees for a couple sessions- last session she started on my shoulder & the improvement just with one time was amazing. ( I have more of an impingement- instead of frozen shoulder).</p>
<p>My naturopath does acupuncture ( which I have had for arthritis in my wrist)- & I have had it for asthma but not for anything else.</p>
<p>You poor things! I developed adhesive capsulitis after I fell on my stairs, but my hand was still holding the railing – I partially pulled the arm out of the socket and also internally fractured the head of the humerus. it was one of the worst things I ever went through. A good deal of the agony was the awful doctors, but that is a long story…</p>
<p>I was healing nicely with PT from the dislocation and occult fracture until it started to “freeze” – I was completely compliant and dedicated to my PT – but since I am fat all the docs refused to believe I was not simply being “lazy” and they paid no attention and just sent me back for more PT, and my poor PT kept sending me back to the doc, and I kept trying new docs.</p>
<p>By the time I found the shoulder specialist who saved my life (I kid you not) i was out on full time disability, could not lift a cup, couldn’t sleep, etc etc.</p>
<p>I wound up having what my later PT referred to as the biggest shoulder surgery she had ever seen – still anthroscopically (is that the right word?)</p>
<p>All the scar tissue had to be cut through, I had zero degrees of motion in most planes. I also had a bursectomy, and impingement surgery at the same time (for the impingement, they reduce the underside of the acromion) AND it turned out I had tears in my labrum.</p>
<p>When I got to post surgical PT I was asked my goal – I said to kayak again. She asked me to be realistic as PT would last 4 months. I said, to lift a coffee cup. That became my first goal.</p>
<p>But 18 months later I went on a 5 day wilderness kayaking trip! I have essentially normal functional use of that shoulder! I love and cherish my shoulder! I still take good care of it, and work on my exercises at the first twinges.</p>
<p>(Unfortunately, I developed a systemic illness right after the shoulder surgery, and now have other joint problems, but my shoulder is fine!)</p>
<p>silversas, you make the rest of us look like whiners. I shudder to think of the pain you endured and am delighted that your shoulder recovered. Commiserations on the other joint problems.</p>
<p>silversas, the next time I even think about complaining I will remind myself of what you went through. Thank goodness you had a happy ending.</p>
<p>First PT today went well. I’m doing it with a new PT that’s close to my office. He thinks the process will be quicker because I’m not completely frozen this time, and recommends just two visits a week (I did 3x a week last time).</p>
<p>Looking for some support. I have been dealing with a frozen shoulder that I developed for my 36th birthday in my dominant arm. Have been dealing with it for about 5 months now and had PT and cortisone shots. Making some progress but still have 0 degrees of external rotation. Met with two orthos and both said time for surgery. I have a three year old and 8 month old twins and I am unable to care for the kids or work and we have had to hire a nanny. I cant believe I am missing out on being able to hold or care for the twins. Worse thing, I think it is happening in the other arm as well. Anyway, there is one thing that my doctors still can’t explain and I wanted to see if anyone else has experienced. At the same time that I started developing excruciating sharp and seizing pain upon external rotation, I also developed difficulty writing (pain and hard to coordinate) and pain in both my wrist and my elbow. Further, when the PT does therapy to try and improve ROM often it feels as if there is like pinched nerve pain in the elbow. Sometimes the elbow pain actually limits ROM so we cant even get to the shoulder pain. This happens when trying to put on deoderant and some time when the arm is at a 90 degree angle and is pushed into external rotation. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?</p>
<p>sweetpeax3 - your case sounds a bit mysterious. I certainly did not have wrist or elbow problems while my shoulder was frozen. I wonder if perhaps you have a problem originating in your spine. My H had spinal stenosis and his symptoms involved pain and numbness from his neck right down to his finger tips. He ended up at a neurologist and had surgery that alleviated about 95% of his problems.</p>
<p>Reporting in on my SIL. I did not see her this weekend as she didn’t attend the reunion because she was home icing her shoulder. She has her second full-fledged frozen shoulder, made even worse this time as it is her right shoulder and she’s right-handed. Her doctors want to do the same manipulation under anesthesia that she did before but she is terribly frustrated because last time it took months to get the insurance clearance. I feel so bad for her.</p>