If my shoulder is “freezing” is there any way I can stop it?

[melonlettuce]

I think I’m getting a frozen shoulder. Pain came on over a couple of days out of nowhere, it’s not extremely painful but hurts when I lie on that side (my most usual side) so I keep waking up on my back! Reduced range of movement and some moments of intense pain when I move in certain ways.

Dr google tells me this might be the “freezing” phase of frozen shoulder ☹️ Is there anything I can actually do?

I’m in the unfreezing stage and have had a steroid injection so completely understand your pain! Physio said exercise while early on might stave it off but I do gymnastics type exercises and it just didn’t work for me. You have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Fingers crossed for you.

Thanks so much for replying. I’m trying to keep moving it but when it hurts I wonder of that’s making it worse. It’s hard to know what the right thing to do is. Did you find physio helpful at all?

Mine isn't frozen but has a lot of the same pain. It's impingement. For me it was all about posture. I saw a physio whose basic advice was 'Stick your tits out!'. Pulling my shoulders back and down to counter bad posture habits has really helped nip a lot of the pain in the bud.

Knowing what I now know, if I had the start of a frozen shoulder I would drop all oxalate food from my diet and ride the rocky road that is oxalate dumping. It has revolutionised my life. Take a look at Sally K Norton on YouTube.

Thanks so much for replying. That’s a good point @DrMadelineMaxwell it may be impingement I will read up.

Thanks @DrDavidStarKey I am about to google oxalates right now! I have become very achy in my joints in my 40s so this could be very good for me to know about.

I think the damage is done. Sadly its taken 3 years for mine to start getting better and I still have reduced movement. Mine was caused by repetitive strain lifting.

My physiotherapist for other issues did some type of massage thing with a machine . It did help. I'd see a physiotherapist.

I found swimming helped mine a lot

Just quickly looking into oxalates, I don’t eat meat or much processed foods but basically that’s my entire diet! Oh dear.

Don’t panic - I thought my shoulder was frozen a few months ago but it was really nasty rotator cuff tendinitis/tendonopathy. The physio said it could progress to being frozen if I wasn’t careful. It was agony but is 90% better now. See a physio ASAP for advice and stretches to do. Keep it moving but gently - really gently. I used ibuprofen gel and also comfrey balm as well as co-codamol for the pain, and ice packs. Good luck.

I had no idea I was chock full. I stopped drinking tea and having all the stuff I used to have that was full of oxalic acid and then...OMG the dumping! I toughed it out but don't recommend that quite honestly! The difference is incredible though.

Yep oxalates can be a silent menace. Those who are big on lots of veg can find they're eating a ton of the stuff. Our body can't do anything with it so it gets stashed away, then it can dump later on. I only found out about oxalate and dumping a few years ago. Whatever you do though OP, don't suddenly stop all high ox foods or you will dump badly. It must be reduced slowly and carefully. There's a good FB group - Trying Low Oxalates which has spreadsheets of all foods and their oxalate content, plus a lot of advice.

I had two frozen shoulders in my late 40’s, and after reading on meno forums that its a peri symptom, I would have started hrt sooner.

I had a frozen shoulder a few years ago. It was only when I eventually went to see my GP that it was diagnosed as such. "How long have you had it?" he asked. I admitted to a "good" few weeks. He interpreted that as a few months. He said it was usually self limiting and usually resolved itself in about 18 months. At the time this sounded horrific until he added "I presume you've already had it for at least six months🙄 (Yes !)" He knows me too well. He said he would refer me for a physiotherapy and a steroid injection. I saw the physiotherapist (in the surgery) the next week and did his exercises religiously. A few months later the surgery rang to make an appointment for the injection. I was so happy to say " It's just about gone away, thank you.

I agree with pp about a physio. Your pcn might have one so it's worth asking your gp practice.

Regular anti-inflammatories (careful of upset stomach), ice and heat, keep it gently moving, including using your other hand to move it fully.
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.tims.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/TIMS-Frozen-Shoulder.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwig_Jq2yquFAxUnZ0EAHRO4AWcQFnoECCYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2nRvX97TpLRNhk02OZj4IM

He asked what I knew about it and I said it’s 50:50 whether physio would help and 50:50 whether steroids would help and he nodded and said that’s about the crux of it. Good news is it will go on its own but bad news it is that it may take years. FYI the steroids have given me a significant range of motion back.

If it is frozen shoulder no you can't stop it. It has to go through the 3 phases. You can ask for a cortisone injection though which might stop the pain developing too much.

I am 10 months in and I think I'm frozen now. So many people have told me they had frozen shoulder for a few months and then had it cured by a physio/ sports massage therapist! If it is really frozen shoulder this can't happen, you can only manage the pain.

When mine was threatening to freeze (I'd had it before in the other shoulder, which took 3 years to fully resolve, despite physio and a steroid injection), I battered the hell out of it with massage, hanging loosely, hanging loosely with weights, laying on my back and trying to coax it into a 'hands up' position, using a theraband and finally, going to the gym and religiously using the pec deck/flyes/lat pulldowns to strengthen my back muscles to pull it back into place and place a tiny, controllable stretch back.

Bloody hurt to massage it and I could only use the lightest plates on the narrowest range of movement at first, but after about three months it was back to more or less normal operating again - it took about 4 weeks for me to be able to naturally stop winging my shoulderblade out, the rest was increasing strength and range of motion.

I had one during lockdown which took 18 months to go. One arm still can't reach as far as the other behind my back but I don't really test that too much. I'd definitely get physio - I paid and had NHS. Best advice was that the pain doesn't mean stop moving. It is excruciating when it's freezing so try to get good drugs.

IME, a frozen shoulder takes its own course no matter what you do - I had it for a year in one shoulder and then when that eased, the other one decided to freeze too, so I had that for a further year. The first time, I had physio and the steroid injections - didn’t do a thing to help tbh. So for the second one, I didn’t have physio and I didn’t have the injections - and the progress and symptoms were exactly the same.

That’s just my experience. Take care of yourself OP, it’s going to get pretty painful as it freezes totally. Be ready for what they call “zingers”, an excruciating shot of pain that occurs when you randomly move your arm too much or etc.

For me, the frozen stage lasted several months, but then eventually, you wake up one morning and realise you can move your arm a slight bit more. Day by day it eases, and then finally, you can risk doing stretching exercises and it starts to release and you get back to more or less normal over a month or two.

There are lots of FB groups and forums to chat about it OP. Although I found them slightly depessing!

I had a manipulation under anaesthetic followed by physio which fixed it.

I wouldn’t advise moving it at the frozen stage, keep it as still as is humanly possible, lie on your other side etc. Ain’t no exercise that’s going to help at that stage, you have to wait for the thawing stage.

I currently have exercises to do to stop this developing as my shoulder is broken, so high risk.

1. Stand in a good posture then raise your shoulders and release.

1. Stand in a good posture and squeeze your shoulder blades together and release.

1. Sit with your hand on your leg and slide it towards your knee and back.

1. Bend over and allow your arm to hang freely and let it gently swing forwards and back.