Frozen shoulder

[surlycurly]

I've just been diagnosed with one and it's making me miserable. I'm not big on meds but I can't sleep with it. Any tips or stories for me? How long did yours last?

Aw man, surely someone had had one?

I had one last year. Go to your GP and they can refer you to the physio. I needed a cortisone injection in it and 6 weeks of physio. I still can’t sleep on my left hand side for long periods of time.

Pilates teacher was talking about this only this week. Her physio friend apparently says he'll take your money... but there's an exercise that really helps. Which is this: lean forward from your waist, not right angles, just what is comfortable, and then move your hands and arms as if, her description, you're washing the floor. As slowly or as fast as is possible. Obviously I'm not a HCP, but only passing on what she and I have been told. A quick google tells me it's called a Pendulum Stretch. Hope you're feeling better soon.

My mum had this...in both shoulders. I'm not going to lie, she was pretty miserable for a while, but she did refuse steroid injections, which I know can help.

If you have a DP, make sure they're very understanding and sympathetic. It will be a difficult time for you, particularly if you're not really sleeping, so whoever is in your life needs to understand that.

Just remember though, it's not degenerative and you will recover. Yes, it can be horrible and it's going to be difficult, but you will come out the other side.

Mine was about 18 months all told, 2 cortisone shots and a lot of physio. I have about 90% range of movement on that side now, this was about 5 years ago.

Thought it was happening on the other side last year and got very down, but that was bursitis and had one injection and cleared within 4 months thankfully!

There was a good FB support group I used, Frozen Shoulder Friends I think it was, lots of hints and advice plus understanding. When it's in the freezing stage the pain can be horrendous, I used to wear a sling sometimes in crowded places as I was so paranoid about getting it knocked. Family thought I was nuts but turns out lots of people on the group did the same.

It was an awful time, I couldn't drive and lost my job, couldn't claim any kind of sickness benefit as I had one working arm. It does get better though, keep asking for help from GP, physio etc and most of all be kind to yourself. Don't beat yourself up about not being able to do things, if you need to go and lie down and try and sleep with a heat lamp on your shoulder then that's good - getting yourself feeling better trumps everything else, it took me a long time to realise this and would try and still hoover round or mop floors - that stuff can wait!

I also bought a contraption that could hold an icepack/heated pad in place which helped a lot - just needed someone to help me get it on and off! Oh and bras - ended up buying some stretchy crop top things that I could step into.

Oddly I'm far more tolerant now, if someone is say packing really slowly at the checkout in front of me, I'm far more empathetic and grateful to be recovered.

Hope things improve quickly for you

Just getting full mobility back in mine, 2.5 years after it started. Be prepared for the long haul, anything up to 3 years is considered normal and up to 5 isnt unusual :(

I agree that the pendulum exercise can help

When it's in the freezing stage the pain can be horrendous, I used to wear a sling sometimes in crowded places as I was so paranoid about getting it knocked. Family thought I was nuts but turns out lots of people on the group did the same.

I did this too, it was the only way to manage sometimes and also to get help. If I didnt wear it and asked for help I would get the "look" as if to say that I was just lazy as there was nothing obviously wrong.

My teen DD's were angels about helping me with my bras!

I had it, exercises do help, heat helps, you can get heating pads that stick on and activate on the air, enough to get you to sleep maybe, deep warm baths help, physio... and the physio gave me some ultrasound thing which I think helped.

I kept my crop top type bras on for 48 hours at a time. It was the only way I could cope.

How did you do it do you think? Mine was carrying DS on my shoulders. I had it for a year or so but it didn’t improve until I had the physio after about six months.

This is the ultrasound type treatment I had.

academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article/11/12/1837/1943879

Can’t find much else about it, didnt realise it was quite new. I didn’t have steroid injections but went to physio (London Bridge Hospital) once a week for the radio pulse thing and stretches and after 6 visits I really noticed a difference.

And . It’s awful. Just reading this thread has made my shoulder ache where the pain used to be.

I had surgery for mine 18 months ago after dreadful pain for two years - at the worst point I vomited with the pain when I jarred my shoulder getting off a bar stool. I had 2 cortisone injections that did nothing to relieve the pain. Amytriptiline helped me sleep at night.

I had a few sessions of physio after the surgery but apart from a day or so of paracetamol immediately after my operation I haven't needed any painkillers.

I have full movement now apart from not being able to reach up behind my back to touch my shoulder blade - I still have to fasten my bra at the front and twist it round.

I have bought an orthopaedic pillow that is shaped to fill in the gap between my head and my shoulder.

If you search “radiofrequency” rather than “ultrasound” you find the treament I had. I was really impressed.

I don't suppose you have a link for the pillow do you @TheWoollybacksWife? My shoulder has been a problem for over 10 years now since injuring it. A round of physio didn't help and i just have learned to live with it being agony some weeks and okay others. The right side of my neck has now decided to join in the fun for the last 2 years

WoollybacksWife - You may find you will eventually be able to do up your bra from behind. I had surgery on my frozen shoulder (some 16 years ago) & the improvement was amazing from right after the op & carried on for nearly 3 years.

I’ve had this. I had hydrodilatation done privately because it wasn’t available on the NHS where I live. I got to the point where I couldn’t live with the pain any more and was struggling to get through a day at work. Painkillers like Naproxen didn’t seem to make any difference to the pain. I was given exercises to do afterward which were painful. But the treatment definitely worked because I immediately had more movement in the arm after it. I don’t have full movement - probably about 95% and the big thing was getting rid of the 24/7 pain.

This was about 5 years ago now so this may now be more available on the NHS.

@allornuffin I can't find the exact one (mine isn't memory foam) but it is similar to this one. It's medium support and suitable for side sleeping. There are other ones if you sleep on your back. I like these ones because they fit in a standard sized pillow case.

Thank you magi. The improvement in 18 months has already been amazing - I'm delighted to hear it can get even better.

Have a look at feldenkrais

You can have someone help you or look up lots of exercises. Very very slowly increase the mobility of you shoulder. Sounds a bit alternative and too easy to really help but it was the only think that really helped me.

Currently have frozen shoulder, nearly a year in. Was very painful in the early stages.

Cortisone helped only briefly but PRP injection (they take the platelets from your blood and inject them back in) really helped. Now still stiff but no pain.

Also I have phisio at least twice a week which is gradually increasing the range of movement and is really good.

Untreated can last years so try to get as much as you can.

May I just say to all sufferers. This thread is bringing it all back and it truly is horrid.

mobilisation is the key. massage is helpful. adhesive capsuiltus is little known and heals up on its own accord. pain has a lot to do with fear. shoulder pain is a lot to do with stress and over responsibility (what do i now, i am just working in this for 10 years, little science explain the real cause)..........

My dh has one just now. Has just taken 5 days of oral steroids and waiting for them to kick in. My dm has had it 3 times, has had an injection for every time, but didn’t always work. In the end she had to have it manipulated under anaesthetic.

I have it in both shoulders...one for over 2 years and the other for about 18 months. I've had physio and acupuncture. Steroid injections worked for a bit but wore off pretty quickly. I now take Naproxen morning and night and am just having to learn to live with limited mobility in my shoulders.
Mine started with my dogs pulling on their leads when I was walking them.

I've had this, mine started during a very stressful time in my life. The only thing that worked for me was pain killers and when they kicked in, doing tiny movements. My pain killer was tramadol.

Thank you all for your replies! I thought I was going mad. I jarred it the other day, tripping over the cat, and I actually cried with the pain. I can't lift anything as it goes weak all the time, and I'm so tired! My GP has referred me to physio but offered nothing else. Driving is horrible, as is typing at work. Grim!

Sorry OP, I can only sympathise. I had it in the right shoulder from March 2015 to March 2016, then in my left shoulder from May 2016 to May 2017.

What you describe happened today is the dreaded “zinger” - the pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt. Takes your breath away doesn’t it?

I had steroid injections for the first one. Three in total. Bloody waste of time, so I didn’t bother the second time and the pain and recovery time was exactly the same.

Don’t try any physio exercises at this stage, you’ll be in too much pain. Just try to keep your arm as still as you can. A frozen ice pack helped me with the pain.

All I can say is at some point, maybe in a few weeks or a few months, you’ll realise you’ve been able to move the arm up a bit more than usual without fainting with pain. That’s the point where you’ll be able to do the physio exercises and start the long process of regaining movement.

Drink lots of wine, that’s what got me through.