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.

I went to Professor Tony Kochhar - the 'Shoulder Doctor' in London. Private patient - after about a year of agony and nothing working - hydrodilatation worked almost instantly (just in time for daughter's wedding) followed by some physio - the relief was intense!

Try googling Paul Chek & frozen shoulder.... there was some great resources for physical therapy for free years ago. Hopefully still findable.
Be assured it does improve, even if very slowly. Good luck

Mine came on in August, still waiting for an NHS physio appointment but in the meantime I've been paying for a chiropractor and now have no pain, and about 80% of movement back. It's money I don't really have, but it's been so worth it as I was in agony every time I tried to drive, and now driving is no bother at all, and it's just a bit achy in bed rather than excruciating.

The chiropractor does lots of manipulation, gave me exercises to do daily, and a frozen gel pad - he said not to use heat.

I had an unsuccessful injection for my frozen shoulder & had to have decompression surgery as I had an impingement, it took 6 months after the surgery for me to gain full movement & use.

Monr0e How was it diagnosed? I've been in awful pain for 3 months, after my arm was bent right back when the hospital got me out of an MRI scanner (for something else). I've had an xray, CT scan, MRI scan, all without any actual diagnosis. I've had various painkillers (over the counter and prescribed), physio, and nothing yet has helped.

It was diagnosed by the msk physio. She said it won't show up on mri or scan and is generally diagnosed through medical history and symptoms.

That's really interesting about the chiropractor. Although the thought of someone trying to manipulate it makes me want to chew my own arm off.

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I wear a sleep monitor and my cycle has massively improved due to reduced pain, during the day I take far less if any pain relief now

I agree frozen shoulder is sheer hell. I recommend acupuncture.

I was very fortunate that my NHS GP offers acupuncture (free). It was instant, absolute magic, turned off the FS pain like a tap.

(I was persuaded acupuncture works after seeing the same miracle result on our arthritic dog. Performed by vet).

@Monr0e I've had to brace myself and grit my teeth a few times, but honestly afterwards the difference in movement, and overall easing of the pain, has been miraculous. If I'd waited from Aug till now doing nothing I'd have chewed the arm off myself!

Frozen shoulder was awful - I could barely get out of bed in the morning. I understand now how people can become addicted to painkillers because if someone had offered me serious drugs I would have eaten them like candy. I did several months of physio that didn't help and then got a cortisone injection which was an absolute miracle. I was in the lucky group for whom the steroid shot fixed things. I was meant to do follow up physio but then covid happened so I've not been back.

I hope everyone here that's suffering finds relief.

I feel for you!! its excruciating pain, nothing worked until I had two cortisone injections, the first one one only worked for a few hours, two weeks later I had a 2nd one and that immediately did the trick. I straight away did intense physio and the mobility has come back 90%.

Hi, 10 months in now and I’m not sure if I’m in the frozen or unfreezing stage now. I have minimal pain and not much range of movement but it is slowly improving. When I had the pain, I was taking cocodamol to knock me out at night, and slathering my arm in Tiger Balm. I had acupuncture and heat treatment which gave me a day or two of relief. A couple of months ago, I had the worst zinger I’d experienced and the pain seemed to subside. Then I had a cortisone injection which should chivvy recovery along a bit. At night times I had lots of pillows to rest my arm on. I couldn’t work as I couldn’t drive and I couldn’t sit too long at a computer. I also wore a sling when out and about as it gave some relief. Good luck with it.

I tried various things but it was a steroid injection & exercises after that sorted mine. I went to a specialised person who did the injection on recommendation of my local private physio.

I had FS for nearly a year. Getting it diagnosed was half the battle, but once the physio acknowledged that’s what it was, it was a ‘lightbulb’ moment for me and reassuring to know there’s a definite ‘thawing’ stage and end point!

I was referred to an NHS hydrotherapy centre which was wonderful. Before that, Ibuprofen (both tablets and gel), V shaped pillow and only manageable exercises such as pendulum swings helped a little.

Just want to add when I had my hydrodilatation procedure it wasn’t available on the NHS but might be now I think. It’s a much simpler and cheaper procedure than having this shoulder manipulated under anaesthetic. The success rates are good I think.

I was worried about taking painkillers for such a lengthy amount of time. I was only offered Naproxen which didn’t touch the pain but I was concerned about the effect on my stomach of too many NSAIDS.

Sympathies, op. Try TENs machine-it’s non invasive and can be used alongside chemical painkillers.

It's hell and you have every ounce of my sympathy.

Hydrodilation really does do the trick. I had it done and that night I slept through the night for the first time in months. It was worth every single penny for that alone.

Three months down the line from that I still don't have full rotation back but each week I see marginal gains and have a fab physio.

Having a frozen shoulder is a bit like having a horse or a boat, it's a money pit ( and yes I'm very grateful that I'm in a position to be able to do that)

My hydrodilation I've been referred for is through the NHS. She said roughly 4-6 weeks waiting list so am counting the days.

Last night I did the pillows, ibuprofen gel and codeine and slept better than I have in a long time. Thank you 😊

My mum had relief with reiki healing. No evidence for it so take or leave it, but it worked for her.

DH has had it recurring for years and takes loads of ibuprofen, which is probably terrible for his stomach but they can't seem to recommend anything else. One doctor reckoned it might be misdiagnosed gout.

Just a little update. I have my appointment for hydrodilation tomorrow. I'm a pretty even mix between dreading it and grateful I'm getting treatment.

The pain hasn't eased, I'm shattered from the lack of sleep and completely fed up of not being able to do pretty much anything. So I have absolutely everything crossed it helps.

I'm pretty sure you'll sleep tomorrow night!! Honestly, the relief is amazing and it's not a painful procedure.

Good luck tomorrow! I had cortisone injections (which hurt like HELL and have now made me scared of needles when I wasn't before!) but it was a full year before I had decent movement again... it's now about 80% better but it was 2 years of pain.

Came to this late but DH has had hydro dilation for frozen shoulder twice (once on each side). It was an instant cure, he was slightly tender for a few hours but back to normal almost straight away. It really felt like a miracle at the time.

Good luck tomorrow, I bet you’ll sleep great tomorrow night!

How did it go OP?

I ended up paying for private myofascial release therapy sessions, it was expensive but worth it.
Initially i did fortnightly treatments and over a few months slowly stepped it back to monthly then every other month.