Frozen shoulder hell - please help

[Monr0e]

I was diagnosed with frozen shoulder last week after 2 months of constant, sometimes unbearable pain and massively reduced movement in my right arm.

I was originally diagnosed with trapped nerve in my neck, followed by suspected rotator cuff tear before seeing a specialist physio who said she is 99.9% certain it is frozen shoulder.

I've never known pain like it. I've been managing in the day with pain relief but nights are the worst. I fall asleep initially but wake around 2am with the pain then spend most of the night awake trying to find a comfortable position to fall back asleep in. I'm shattered. And I start a new job tomorrow.

Anyone who has been through this, if you have any tips at all, please please share. And let me know if there is any light at the end of the tunnel.

Yes it gets better eventually, my movement not completely back but so much better than it was. It's a long haul. Can u use brufin gel? It helped a little. Had to force myself to use arm as was so painful. However also realization that my body needed rest days too when it was really bad.

It's awful, but does get better. For me, exercises worked, done very carefully but regularly. I felt it very gradually get better, hope you feel better soon.

Sending sympathy op, it's an awful condition. Traction helped (not moving the joint, just holding something heavy and letting the arm hang). I found 'hugging' a pillow with my bad arm helped at night. I also went to a lovely chiropractor - there's not a lot that you can do while it's freezing/frozen but going to a chiropractor made me feel a bit proactive and it was nice to talk to someone who understood frozen shoulder. And alternating heat and cold.

My sympathies. I was given steroid injections by my GP. What a relief!!
My shoulder completely back to normal now from having only a few inches movement of my arm in any direction.
Ask your GP for the injections!

I tried cortisone injections and accupuncture for mine, nothing worked until I had Hydrodilation - it was an absolute miracle and instantly cured it (I’d had it a year by then). It was an injection of some fluid under x-ray. I had to tell the GP to refer me (a physio had told me about the treatment but couldn’t refer me as our local hospital didn’t do it, I had to go to the next city). Honestly - instant cure!!

I can empathise OP, awful pain I know, I saw two different physios, took months to heal, and still occasionally have problems, but much, much better than it was.

See a Physio and do recommended exercises religiously.

I had a cortisone injection and I won’t dress it up, it was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced for 24 hours afterwards but it gave me relief for about a year but when the pain returned I opted for (private) surgery and never looked back.

Physio with ultrasound and then steroid jab plus hydrodilation. Not an instant cure as I got the steroid flare side effect which made it worse for a few days before improving. The jabs were also a very unpleasant process and exceedingly painful- but it did the trick. You must keep up with all the physio / exercises to recover range of movement

Two things that provide some relief for this - lie on the floor with a tennis or massage ball under the area and roll around on top of it. There are instructions for this on the net. Getting someone to gently push their elbow into the knot in your shoulder blade with a downward pressure while holding you towards them.

OP I'm 6 months in, it's truly awful .

If I knew at the start what I know now I'd scrape together every penny I could and have private treatment.

That said, my gp has been very understanding and I got a reasonably swift referral for a cortisone injection. When this didn't work it took 2 months for an msk referral and I have all my hopes pinned on hydrodistension procedure next week.

After being given exercises to do by the physio over the phone, the first time she saw me in person and saw what a state I was in she told me to stop the exercise immediately as it was causing me so much pain. Just use your arm for regular stuff as much as you can when it's still in the most painful phase.

Squeaky wheel at the GP for referral and pain relief - I'm taking morphine and sleeping pills at bedtime (on top of co-codamol and naproxin during the day) and I still wake up many many times a night. I feel like absolute shit and have been signed off work since mid-Sept.

Have a look for support groups on fb, particularly UK based ones, they've been a real tonic for me.

I can sympathise OP, it is so painful. I eventually got referred to a physio who gave some exercises like walking your hands up a wall. These helped but essentially it was just time, probably 6 months before I was better and a bit longer for full movement and I am extra careful still. Physio recommended continued careful exercise after recovery including strengthening arm/ back/ shoulder muscles so I try to keep this up.

I sympathise as I went through the same. The pain was horrendous and it was affecting every area of my life. I was beginning to break down due to lack of sleep, husband and I were in separate beds as I was so restless and hardly slept. NHS couldn’t help apart from give me painkillers which didn’t touch the pain and put me on a very long waiting list to see an orthopaedic surgeon. I’d been paying for physio myself but that did nothing either.

In the end went privately to see surgeon who did hydro dilatation. Instant pain relief and increased movement. I did have further physio and did all the exercises daily which were painful but it was nothing compared to the pain I had been living with and I could cope as I knew I was improving.

Recommend hydrodilatation…

You’ve got my sympathy @Monr0e, it’s an excruciatingly painful condition.
One thing I found that helped me to sleep, was a V shaped pillow or putting my pillows in an inverted V shape, so that as I slept I couldn’t roll over. It made me feel more secure that I wouldn’t roll onto my painful shoulder and I slept more comfortably.

It’s the most awful pain and you’re not alone! Mine is now a lot better but at its height the only way I could sleep was to go on my back and wedge a pillow under the shoulder to bring it forward, then another one under the arm to elevate it. If you need to sleep on your side, go on your other side and put the pillow under your armpit to raise the affected arm.

Physio didn’t help with the pain but it kept it mobile and was definitely worthwhile. I agree ibuprofen gel is very good (better than the pills as it doesn’t mess with your insides so much). Echoing all the others that it does improve [gentle hug at arms length]

Also I was self employed at the time and it was affecting my performance at work. I couldn’t afford lots of time off sick so paying privately for the hydrodilatation was the best option for me.

My husband has had this in both shoulders, With the first he had every intervention known to (wo)man due to private health insurance with work, and it lasted six months.

With the second he just took painkillers and did gentle exercises as far as he was able - and it lasted six months.

I would say iboprofen gel and some gentle exercise. Don't be persuaded to have injections and heavy going physio - it is, going by DH's experience, unlikely to help.

There are some great exercise videos on YouTube, stick at those and they help a lot. Ibuprofen gel and a heated pad also help a lot. I used a v shaped pillow and loads of other pillows to sleep sitting up at night. I agree, night time was the worst!

Thank you all so so much everyone. I have felt so alone I this and am honestly in tears at all your lovely responses as well your recovery stories.

My friend came to see me the other week and was shocked at the state I was in, she thought I just had an ache in my shoulder.

I will take all of your advice about the pillows. Night time is definitely the worst. Im already on naproxen and codeine which help me get to sleep but when I wake there is nothing more I can take.

The msk physio has referred me for hydrodilation so it is reassuring that it has worked for many. I'll make sure and book a few days off afterwards as well. Thank you

Mine was sorted in the end with arthroscopic surgery to free up the joint after having physio for many months. I found a TENS machine provided some additional pain relief (recommended by my physio).

You have my sympathy I’ve had both shoulders frozen and golfers elbow amongst others (hyper mobility)

The things I’ve found help the most are, a neck shaped pillow and for the nerve pain CBD oil, I live with chronic nerve pain and this has been a surprising game changer for me

Second cbd oil, can't take many painkillers as naproxen etc affect my stomach and anything stronger than 8/500 co-codamol spaces me out. I find the cbd oil really helps for the pain

How do you know it's a frozen shoulder or a trapped nerve?
I've got what I think is a frozen shoulder. Had x ray but got told off a radiologist X-rays don't diagnose frozen shoulders they were looking for arthritis etc. X-ray came back ok but I can't move my arm. I'm on a wait list for MSK in 6 weeks. Is it MSK who diagnose?

I've also read heat is bad for frozen shoulder and freezing is better but I'm unsure of freezing in case that's bad if it's a trapped nerve.
Anyone tried freezing spray?

Also apologies for silly question but where do you buy CBD oil from? Scared of buying some dodgy stuff online,

I'm using a 5% oil from holland and barrett

I had a rotator cuff tear a couple of years ago, though not fortunately a frozen shoulder, and it was hideously painful for about 3 months.

I found ibuprofen gel useless but heat pads helped a bit so I used to go to bed surrounded by hot water bottles and pads that heated up in the microwave. After a couple of months with no improvement, I started taking Amitriptyline, which was far more effective than over-the-counter painkillers.

Physio sorted it out in the end.

Good luck, OP.