Frozen shoulder

[jmh740]

Does anyone have any advice I was diagnosed with frozen shoulder today. I'd never heard of it before but someone suggested that could be what I had and the gp agreed. I found some exercises on u tube and did them this morning will carry on with those
The gp said it could last from 1 to 3 years and its likely it will get worse before it gets better. She prescribed naproxen. Can any one offer and advice for me to deal with this?
Thank you

[BlueThistles]

after 3 years of physio ... I was given a cortisone injection... the first one missed the mark.. the second one cured me within an hour... It literally saved my happiness
🌺

[CheeseAndOnionIcecream]

I have a frozen (right (shoulder). Unfortunately I've had it for 20 years and it's unlikely to get any better because I have a combination of arthritis,RSI and tendinitis in it. I've had physio,steroid injections and an injection into into to loosen it up over the last 10 years. They all helped for a bit but the effects soon wore off. I can only lift my right arm to elbow height now. Brushing my hair or reaching up to high shelves is impossible with my right arm.
I would advise you to keep on with the exercises to try and keep it at bay,as I think this is where I went wrong,in that I didn't seek any treatment for it until I'd had it for 10 years,by which time it was too late to do much good.

[SickToDeathOfThis]

I developed it in my dominant arm after an injury. It was horrible! I had hydrodilation some privately- it’s shocking the nhs just lets someone rot away without the use of their arm for years 😢

[Itscoldouthere]

Wow just unbelievable that there's so little help available.
It's a bit of a disaster for me work wise as I'm a florist, and it's my right shoulder, mind you my work had all stopped due to Covid and now I've moved out of UK it's going to be tricky finding work in the current climate.
I will look up hydrodilation, may have to go private to get it done, but the pain and disturbed sleep id taking its toll, so I think it's worth looking into.

[Chocolatedeficitdisorder]

I've had 2 frozen shoulders for more than 3 years now.

I had both shoulders frozen at the same time about 12 years ago. I was 39 and working as a staff nurse. After many appts with doctors and physios it was established that I had Adhesive Capsulitis in both shoulders. I spent two years operating as efficiently as a T-Rex (not very) and was unable to work. I have never returned to nursing.

Physios couldn't help as it was too painful to move my arms, hydrodilation was tried but was successful and I had x-ray guided steroid injections into both shoulders with didn't help either. Time helped, along with lots of Tramadol (100mg at night gave me 5 hours of sleep).

A wise person once said of frozen shoulders...'with treatment, a frozen shoulder will improve in about 18 months. Without treatment it should be better after about a year and a half...'

[BCBG]

@jmh740 hope you feel better soon! Just coming on to say that despite the many posters here all very helpfully sharing their own frozen shoulder stories, please please always see your GP if you have pain and don't assume that in your case it's a frozen shoulder if it's your left shoulder that is affected. My DM was misdiagnosed with a frozen shoulder that was then treated ineffectually with meds for two years, before a massive heart attack revealed that the pain and restricted movement she had suffered was in fact non-classic female angina from a blocked artery. Just saying in the hope it helps.

[MrsKingfisher]

I am suffering too and I get awful nerve pains I have done some exercises from 'Nob and Brad' on YouTube specifically the McKenzie technique which helps with the pain.

Getting my gp to help is like herding cats Gabapentin just makes me a zombie no pain relief has helped at all.

[MrsKingfisher]

Bob and Brad not Nob, bloody autocorrect.

[Whichoneofyoudidthat]

I've had it. For about 2 years from start to finish. No one will ever 'get' the pain/inconvenience/utter crapness of living with it unless they've had it. nothing helped. It went when it went.

[Itscoldouthere]

I will look up the Bob and Brad exercises. I now need to do some research on seeing a doctor, apparently very difficult here in Montreal.
As said above the pain is so depressing and it's making me feel old and worn out.

[aruba786]

I was so glad and emotional to discover this post last night. I wanted to message last night but the pain was so bad I could not stop crying.
i have had pain in my right shoulder for the last two months. I remember a few weeks into it my arm became so heavy as if a weight was on it and I could not lift it up. I was taking regular paracetamol but the pain got worse. I contacted my GP who advised me to go to A and E as I need an xray/mri ? he said his referral would take months and he could see I was in a lot of pain. I decided to wait a few more days in case a miracle happened and it was cured and also for my day off to go to A and E. I had an x ray and the doc said that nothing was broken fractured out of place. He said I have inflammation and gave me naproxen for a week. He said that if there is no improvement then I would need to go bk to my GP and would need steroid injections. He said they are not currently doing mri. I carried on another month. Two days ago I felt this almighty pain and yesterday I had to stop working as the pain was horrendous (much worse than last time) this pain is hurting me even when i am not moving it. I called Gp yesterday and he said i need to go a and e. . he said i will probably have a long wait but need to go there. I asked about injections but he said they donot do them. . . ?? He has given me naproxen but is insisting i need to go. I am reluctant to go because they didnt do much last time and it is not easy to go when I work full time and have young children. I do not know what exactly it is but it is so painful. . i honestly do not know what to do. I have just bought. a heatpad which should come tmrw. I don't know how much more I can take of this pain either. Rotary cuff tear and frozen shoulder . . are they the same or different. How are they diagnosed please? Thanks Op for the post and to read other who also have this awful agony. Having ut for months years. . scares me . . .

[MrsKingfisher]

@aruba786

I was so glad and emotional to discover this post last night. I wanted to message last night but the pain was so bad I could not stop crying.
i have had pain in my right shoulder for the last two months. I remember a few weeks into it my arm became so heavy as if a weight was on it and I could not lift it up. I was taking regular paracetamol but the pain got worse. I contacted my GP who advised me to go to A and E as I need an xray/mri ? he said his referral would take months and he could see I was in a lot of pain. I decided to wait a few more days in case a miracle happened and it was cured and also for my day off to go to A and E. I had an x ray and the doc said that nothing was broken fractured out of place. He said I have inflammation and gave me naproxen for a week. He said that if there is no improvement then I would need to go bk to my GP and would need steroid injections. He said they are not currently doing mri. I carried on another month. Two days ago I felt this almighty pain and yesterday I had to stop working as the pain was horrendous (much worse than last time) this pain is hurting me even when i am not moving it. I called Gp yesterday and he said i need to go a and e. . he said i will probably have a long wait but need to go there. I asked about injections but he said they donot do them. . . ?? He has given me naproxen but is insisting i need to go. I am reluctant to go because they didnt do much last time and it is not easy to go when I work full time and have young children. I do not know what exactly it is but it is so painful. . i honestly do not know what to do. I have just bought. a heatpad which should come tmrw. I don't know how much more I can take of this pain either. Rotary cuff tear and frozen shoulder . . are they the same or different. How are they diagnosed please? Thanks Op for the post and to read other who also have this awful agony. Having ut for months years. . scares me . . .

If you can rotate ice and heat, bag of peas or something in a tea towel on your shoulder for 20 mins then a hot water bottle for 20 mins and keep doing that for at least 3 rounds of each, my physio told me to do this and it did help, also ask your gp for gabapentin it's the only thing that helps me especially at night when I can't sleep. You can self refer through the nhs website for physio which might also help. My dr is giving me an ultrasound on Friday to look at my shoulder. I sympathise the pain is awful, Naproxen did absolutely nothing for me.

[Mindymomo]

I had one a couple of years ago, it lasted about 6 months. I fell in the bath as I couldn’t grip the bath to get out. I went for a mammogram and couldn’t lift my arm enough to relax and got told off that I should have cancelled. I did the exercises that I found online but if I had one again I would definitely get the steroid injection and physio.

[Silvercatowner]

The first time I had it, about 10 years ago, it did indeed last 3 years

Crap crap crap... I had an adhesive capsulitis that lasted 3 years - it's been resolved over 8 years now. I thought I could breathe a sigh of relief...

[Coatandhat]

I've had a frozen shoulder twice - the first time a steroid injection did help although that was about 7 months in and was probably entering the painless but stuck phase. The second time a steroid injection after a month didn't make a difference but the thought of so much chronic pain was too much to stand so I bought a TENS machine - I cannot recommend one enough - utter bliss. Physio gradually brought mobility back.

[SabrinaThwaite]

Try the Harvard physio exercises too:

www.health.harvard.edu/shoulders/stretching-exercises-frozen-shoulder

[backtothefuture]

A lot of interesting information in these posts. A few tips from my experience:

1. See the GP early I think the impact/solution is not the same for everyone, a lot of variation! In my cause it seemed to arise gradually, and I ignored it, and it progressively got worse. Please see the GP early! They have some simple and accurate tests they do for diagnosis.

2. Light exercise helped I tried the steroid injection, and physio, but to be honest neither had a big impact for me. It found that done some exercise (walk, jogging) helped me a lot. It basically took 24 months time for me to recover to a situation was impact was minimal. I wish I'd pushed the GP to explore other options earlier.

3. Sleep / Bed I slept in my own bed not with DH, had a special pillow to stop me turning. If reading in bed, I used a pillow under my arm to support it (suggested by the GP).

4. Sex This was different, but worked out just fine for me. I'd just lie back and ask/tell DH ... do this ... now do this ... do now that ...etc.. Basically I had to minimize movement/turning.

[ANC4this]

@backtothefuture. Seems like your DP/DH was good at following instructions LOL!

[backtothefuture]

Yes, DH is good at following instructions most of the time ;) Seriously, in my case any sudden bump/move of the shoulder in the wrong direction was agony. Someone accidentally bumped in to me in a shop once, and it caught my shoulder, and I almost passed out with the pain.

[user1485813778]

I had one several years ago - it was painful and difficult logistically at first - especially doing up zips etc on work trips - but I got used to it. I went to see private surgeon who worked with England cricket team etc and he said operation was possible but only had around x% success rate (can’t remember now). I decided against surgery and asked about physio. He said I could do it make myself feel better while my shoulder got better at exactly the same pace it would do anyway. So I didn’t bother. It did take around 10 months to get 100% better. It’s just one of those things women of a certain age are prone to, I think. The really painful stage doesn’t last long.

[backtothefuture]

@user1485813778 that's interesting and encouraging that yours got 100% better. I'd say mine is 80%, still sometimes sore, can still "tweak" it, so I'm inclined to be careful.

In my case most people I know would not notice my problem. I can work at desk all day, I can lift things, do some gardening work, unload shopping from car, ..etc.. All these are things where I'm in control and can do things a certain way.

Some things I have to be super careful with, e.g., reaching for some items in the kitchen, putting on/off coats, certain zip and bedroom stuff

[SabrinaThwaite]

I noticed mine in the April and initially put it down to straining something whilst moving house, hit the really painful stage by June (just a bump on the elbow was enough to have me in tears) but by mid August it was starting to improve. Luckily I had a good GP who referred me for a hydrodilatation (it was a six week wait, although I didn’t have it in the end), and by September it was massively improved. I reckon I have close to 100% movement back. Would recommend sleeping with an orthopaedic neck pillow plus a pillow to prop up the affected arm, the Harvard exercises, and just keep the affected shoulder moving gently. Although maybe I was just lucky.

[CathyTre]

Have you had a chest X-ray? Upper back lain can be lung cancer.

[SabrinaThwaite]

Frozen shoulder isn’t upper back pain.

[Chocolatedeficitdisorder]

I was a member of many FS support groups back when I had my 'doublers' a few years ago.

The term they used for the sudden pain in your FS arm is a 'Zinger'.

I remember those zingers well. I once went to a meeting at my son's school. I was too busy talking when my husband was helping me to take my coat off and I got zingers in both arms. The poor teachers has no clue as to why I was suddenly collapsed in pain and tears.