Frozen shoulder? Agony

[AngelusBell]

I have excruciating pain in my left shoulder that is worse at night and radiates down my arm. It feels like a ‘dead arm’ and when I turn over at night the pain wakes me up. I had 30/500 mg prescribed over the phone by a GP on 21st March, so it’s been over 3 months.

I went on holiday last week and putting a light rucksack on was extremely difficult. Likewise doing up my bra. I work from home at a desk and use talk to type dictation software (Dragon) - I have had this problem for years, perhaps it’s from leaning forward to type before I got a better ergonomic setup.

This latest episode is making it painful to dress, I can’t use the arm to swim, and bathing is difficult - I don’t have a shower.

Does this sound like a frozen shoulder? I had the same issue with my other shoulder during 2021/22 and the waiting list for physio was so long that it had almost gone away by itself before I saw the physio.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

It could be frozen shoulder @AngelusBell - and the fact that you’ve had it in the other shoulder too suggests that, as it often affects both sides. Sorry you’re in such pain; I sympathise as I’ve had it and it is indeed horrible.

Painkillers aren’t going to touch the sides, sadly. If you want to go down the physio route, could you afford any private sessions? You can’t really wait around with this, it’ll just progress and you need to keep it moving. There are specific physio techniques for frozen shoulder. Some people seem to have had success with this approach (though I can’t say I did, annoyingly).

Another option is a steroid injection into the shoulder which can help. This worked for me to an extent - your GP would need to request it, or you’d have to pay to get it privately. I suspect an incipient frozen shoulder I had was warded off by an injection, but I later got a full-blown one in the other arm (which another injection helped to ease, but didn’t totally cure).

When all's said and done, they’re very hard to treat and essentially they seem to resolve by themselves whatever you try to do, but it takes about a year to go through all the freezing-frozen-thawing stages.

I'm sorry, it’s an awful thing and the pain is unbelievable.

It

I had this - was frozen shoulder. Had a steroid injection straight into the rotator cuff and then went and saw a sports physio which was the best thing I could have done - cleared up very quickly. No recurrence in maybe 3 years.

Are you diabetic ? It’s a risk factor for frozen shoulder na from the sound of it you’ve had it on both sides .

Acupuncture is a miracle cure for me for shoulder pain. Sounds very similar to what I get. Go to q registered Acupuncturist not a physio though!

Agree with this. I had physio for months and it did nothing. A steroid injection cured me literally instantly.

No, I’m not diabetic as far as I know. I had bloods done in 2023 and they all came back OK. I have another nurse health check due in July.

Thank you. Is the injection very painful? I’m seeing an out of hours GP this evening. I had to queue at the GP surgery at 8 am this morning to get this appointment. I’m paid by the hour so taking time off work isn’t an option.

I didn’t feel a thing with my first injection. I asked when he was going to do it - it was already over! Slight uncomfortableness with the second but really very minor.

Not at all and you are in pain now so an injection is going to be a bonus isn't it. I have had a few frozen shoulder and a rotary cuff injury your Gp might send you for physio or just offer steroid injection.

I had frozen shoulder first right than left with about a year in between. It’s a long process and exhaustingly painful. Ibuprofen gel helped me but I was also prescribed some pain relief mild antidepressant which I didn’t try. The really good news is it usually only happens once in each shoulder, the bad news is you don’t necessarily regain mobility.

No pain when having it. Bit uncomfortable after for a couple of days (very minor irritant). My physio was amazing. First session I had was so painful I nearly vomited but had maybe 5 sessions and not had any issues since.

I had this recently. Got referred for physio quickly. A new meta analysis has shown that steroid injections are no better than placebo so nhs very reluctant to prescribe now. I just waited and it got better tbh. They almost all do within two years. Key for me was swapping sides of the bed so I didn’t sleep on it

I had a rotator cuff injury that sounds a lot like yours. I get them in both shoulders, and usually when my arm muscles weaken due to inactivity/too much desk work. Thankfully it hadn't yet become a frozen shoulder, but either way the physio told me she could work with it. Sorted it out in a matter of a couple of months rehab.

Sounds like shoulder impingement. Absolute agony, I had surgery to fix mine a couple of years ago and it was life-changing!

Edited to add: I had mixed damage to my shoulder joint which was causing/compounding the impingement. It was a mixture of mild arthritis, bursitis and a couple of partial-thickness tears to the rotator cuff.

Yes, shoulder impingement, I had the surgery 9 years ago, was only in hospital 5 hours (Choose & Book in a private hospital) started physio a week after surgery & was completely back to normal in 3 months.

I had a frozen shoulder for 8 months last year. Absolute hell. I had dilatation done in feb - almost instant relief from the pain (the mobility didn't come back straight away but the pain went and it was heaven). Push for this.

Hi @AngelusBell

I can't diagnose, but I had frozen shoulder and experienced very similar to you. It is so painful.

I was diagnosed during lockdown when physio units closed so NHS physios were putting videos online for frozen shoulder to help people and was advised to try these. Hopefully there will still be some on there if you Google.

Anecdotally, the best thing that helped was high strength turmeric capsules. It took about 3 weeks to notice an improvement and after 3 months the issue was completely gone and has never come back. I'd had the problem for about 18 months.

I cannot understand this as I could literally not move my arm and about 15 mins after I had full use of it. This was not just in my mind.

I literally tried everything for my frozen shoulder.

It was agony for months. Had every painkiller known to man, physio and injections

Eventually had surgery and it sorted it. Recovery took about 8 weeks but I now have full movement and no pain.

I’ve had 2 frozen shoulders (not at the same time! 10 years apart) I’m not a diabetic. Absolute agony and very restrictive

I had painkillers, physio, acupuncture and steroid injection - none worked.

you will need surgery - capsular release. Push for this- they won’t let you have it unless you try the other things first. And do the rehab exercises afterwards or it will be a waste of time.

I gained full movement back the first time and around 90% in the second one ( probably because I was 10 years old that time, it was harder )

Yeah. I think the problem is it only works for some people and they don’t know who they will be. You were one of the lucky ones!

I could have written your post OP. First I had one frozen shoulder and the pain horrendous. I had physio then after 6 months an injection. It eased pain but mobility never came back. Then the following year I had frozen shoulder in my other shoulder. Not quite as bad but another 4 months physio and only a small improvement in mobility. Put on nortriptyline low dose for pain management. Now both shoulders bad this year. I've been put on codeine 30mg tablets 3-4 times a day. I've got an x-ray booked for August. Then a scan to follow. I wish I could have got scan in the first place. I struggle in shower to wash myself. DH has to wash my hair and back and shoulders too. I hate losing my independence. I can't lift things. Even lifting the kettle with water in hurts. I'm hoping a scan will show the issue and I can get an operation to fix.

The GP I saw said it looks like rotator cuff wear and tear, he gave me a referral form to self-refer but the form says they don’t accept referrals from people who have ever been treated for cancer and I have - over 15 years ago - so I can’t self-refer. I was just given painkillers. I

Oh no, that’s really rubbish. Can you go back and point this out? They need to progress this - don’t let them kick it into the long grass @AngelusBell. I’m sorry, the last thing you want is having to fight to get treated properly.