Frozen Shoulder - Care Guide

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Frozen Shoulder Symptoms

Frozen shoulder condition often interferes with everyday tasks such as driving, dressing, or sleeping. Even scratching your back, or some of the most common daily activities such as dressing or brushing hair, may become impossible. Frozen shoulder typically develops slowly, and in three stages. Each of these stages can last a number of months.

Frozen Shoulder Causes

The cause of frozen shoulder is not clear. Doctors aren't sure why this happens to some people and not to others. The capsule is a thin tissue that covers and protects the shoulder joint. The scar tissue may cause the capsule to thicken, contract and limit the movement of the shoulder. It is common to believe that frozen shoulder is the result of inflammation, scarring, thickening, and shrinkage of the capsule that surrounds the normal shoulder joint.

Any injury to the shoulder can lead to frozen shoulder, including bursitis, tendinitis, and rotator cuff injury. This condition is more likely to occur in people who have recently experienced prolonged immobilization of their shoulder, such as after surgery or an arm fracture. Frozen shoulders occur more frequently in patients with diabetes, chronic inflammatory arthritis of the shoulder, or after chest or breast surgery.

Frozen Shoulder Diagnosis

Frozen shoulder can usually be diagnosed from signs and symptoms alone. You may also have an X-ray or an MRI scan of your shoulder joint to rule out other structural problems. A frozen shoulder is suggested during examination when the shoulder range of motion is significantly limited, with either the patient or the examiner attempting the movement.

Frozen Shoulder Treatment

The aim of frozen shoulder treatment is restoring joint movement and reducing shoulder pain. Usually the treatment begins with natural pain-relieving techniques such as warm or cold temperature packs, followed by gentle stretching exercises. These exercises aim is to keep the shoulder from 'stiffening up' and to keep movement as full as possible. For most benefit, it is important to do the exercises regularly. Physical therapy can take weeks to months for recovery, depending on the severity of the scarring of the tissues around the shoulder. In many cases, patients are referred to a physiotherapist who can give expert advice on the best exercises to use.

In other cases, frozen shoulder treatment involves the injection of corticosteroids and numbing drugs into the joint capsule. In a small percentage of cases, an operation is considered if other treatments do not help. Surgery may be needed to loosen the joint capsule so that it can move more freely. Although, keeping the range of shoulder movement as good as possible whilst waiting for the condition to clear is necessary, it is very important for to avoid reinjuring the shoulder tissues during the rehabilitation period. Patients should avoid sudden, jerking motions of or heavy lifting with the affected shoulder.

Frozen Shoulder Prevention

To prevent frozen shoulder problem, a common recommendation is to keep the shoulder joint fully moving. Often a shoulder will hurt when it begins to freeze. Because pain discourages movement, further development of adhesions that restrict movement will occur unless the joint continues to move full range in all directions (adduction, abduction, flexion, rotation, and extension). Physical therapy helps with continued movement to discourage freezing and warm it.

Additional simple steps that you can incorporate into your daily life that can virtually eliminate your chances of developing frozen shoulder including stretching the entire shoulder region, strengthening the tendons around your shoulders by hanging on a bar for 30 seconds a day, stretching your spine for a healthy upper back region and including vitamin D and beneficial bacteria in your diet that should significantly strengthen your immune system and decrease your risk of developing conditions that have an autoimmune component, frozen shoulder included.