Frozen shoulder

[BestIsWest]

Been diagnosed with a frozen shoulder by the physio. I’ve been experiencing pain for a couple of months and now can’t lift my arm above 90 degrees or rotate it outwards. I struggle to do up my bra and sudden movements can be nauseatingly painful.

I had this in the other shoulder about 10 years ago and it followed the standard pattern of a year freezing, a year frozen and a year thawing. Eventually I had a corticosteroid injection and that seemed to work miracles - but it might just have been coincidental timing. The shoulder healed completely but I was younger then.

I haven’t yet seen the GP but I’m going to need stronger painkillers. Any tips on what I can do to help myself? I can’t bear the thought of 3 years of this.

I had the "one year freezing one year frozen one year thawed" shoulder some years ago. It was awful. You will get lots of people recommending all sorts of miracle treatments but for a proper adhesive capsulitis, I doubt that anything will halt or speed up the process.

I was fortunate to see a rather lovely orthopaedic surgeon when my shoulder started to freeze. He said that he had all sorts of treatment available but in his experience/opinion nothing would halt the process - my shoulder would freeze then get better. His recommendation was to go with it, take painkillers, be kind and let my shoulder do what it needed to do. According to him I could let my shoulder freeze, or do lots of exercises - my shoulder would still freeze but be unbelievably painful.
He was right - my shoulder now has 95% mobility and it is fine.

Thanks Silvercat. I suspected that would still be the case and it’s probably good advice. It’s so miserable though.

I had a frozen shoulder a few years ago, with the symptoms you describe (very limited movement and excruciating pain with sudden movements). At the time, I was worried that this was a permanent problem as my shoulder is slightly out of alignment as a result of a badly mended broken collar bone. After a few months with no improvement I went to the doctor and was referred to an orthopaedic surgeon; I was given a steroid injection which worked fantastically well, followed by months of physiotherapy, and made a complete recovery.

Is there any chance that your GP could refer you for a steroid injection as that seems to have worked well for you previously? Otherwise I'm afraid I have no advice to offer on managing it but you have all my sympathy as the pain can be unbearable.

Yeah it is really crap. One of the hardest things I found was dealing with people's well intentioned but misguided advice. "Oh yes - my shoulder was frozen for a week so I completely know what you are going through" - err no.
There are lots of conditions that cause temporary shoulder immobility, but for true adhesive capsulitis, I don't think anything will halt the three year process (this was also the view of the orthopaedic surgeon....).

I agree with you, silvercatowner. It took a very long time to get full movement back, however I personally found that the steroid injection really helped with that incredible pain of sudden movement (even something as mundane as involuntarily reacting to a pen falling off a table could leave me in agony). It was the pain that I found so dispiriting and debilitating and once that was improved I could manage the restricted movement much better (and at it's worst I couldn't even put on most of my clothes).

Would a steroid injection help at this early stage or would I be better off going for better pain killers?
Going to book in to see the GP next week.

I have had two frozen shoulders. In one a shoulder surgeon injected steroid, he told me it would buy me 6 weeks relief, it did. He suggested if it became unbearable he could snap the rigid tissue under anaesthetic (didn't fancy that) In the 18 months it took to go I was given a lot of help from a physio how to lie on my back to sleep and pack a pillow under the shoulder and arm, made sleep possible. Also strapping over my back to hold it in position to help that squeal out loud pain of impingement. I also learned to walk with my hands in my pockets so I didn't wing it out to balance, more squeal and a few tears. However it did mean I fell over a couple of times. Dont do any of the jobs that mean lifting it, like window cleaning. Adapt your life for the duration. Its a pig but it does go. You have lttle to lose with a steroid injection but it needs to be done by someone who knows what they are doing. If you gp doesnt do them ask for a referral

I'm afraid I don't really know BestIsWest. I suspect only your GP or surgeon can properly advise but I would have thought that it's certainly worth raising with your GP next week, especially since your steroid injection helped last time.

Just to add, you mentioned that you were younger last time. I'm 57 now and was 53/4 when I had mine.

Thank you ConfusedBeetle, some useful tips there. I’m seeing th3 physio next Friday so I’ll ask her to show me some of those techniques.

BoiledEgg I’m 55 now. Was about 42 when the first one started.

@BestIsWest - How sure is your physiotherapist of the diagnosis? It would be a little strange to be able to lift your arm to 90 degrees and do other movements (e.g. rotate inwards) with a frozen shoulder.

Pretty sure. Maybe I am describing the movements wrong. Also it is still at the freezing up stage.

If I try to lift my arm straight upwards out to the side it probably only goes about 35 degrees. My other arm will go all the way to my ear. If I hold it pointing forwards and try to lift then it will go to about 90 degrees.

Not sure what you mean by rotate inwards.

Maybe consider accupuncture and yoga exercises - solved my frozen shoulder and frozen elbow within a year as I didn't really want to go down the steroid route. [only had 10% of range of movement when I first started]

I have been thinking about acupuncture- that is a good suggestion.

What yoga exercise would you suggest? I’ve been told to avoid it in general due to hyper mobile joints but of course this is the opposite!

Get the steroid injection! I found it brilliant - movement was still limited (a year later I'm about 80% back to normal - bra goes on from the front though!), but the pain was gone within a day.

I just followed a youtube simple routine of 20mins per day. It's important not to push yourself too much but to do the exercises every day because keeping it still is part of the problem. I'm not sure about hypermobility though so perhaps undertake more research regarding that.

I also did work with those big stretchy bands and used a foam roller from amazon - best £10 I ever spent. It helps to get all the muscles to relax and I used it all along my arm and back and side. A half cylinder shaped firm memory foam pillow was also good to put beneath your arm when trying to sleep or rest to keep your arm slightly lifted away from your body. [hope that makes sense]

This is the roller - incredible thing - and also wonderful for back/leg muscle aches.

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01NASWVBL/?psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it&coliid=I3MA8NU15C1ZAS&tag=mumsnetforum-21&colid=15R5H9OE6MXRE

Thank you - Will investigate those. I have some of the bands from the physio.

My ExDH had this in both shoulders 7 years apart. He had surgery both times and survived on tramadols whilst waiting.

I would ask to be referred to a specialist. I know surgery won’t be for everyone and the steroid injection might be enough but in his case the surgery worked amazingly well

I've had it in both shoulders some years ago (separate times).

I had physical therapy aimed at stretching and reaching and ultra sonic treatment and manipulation aimed at breaking up the scar tissue/adhesions. It was painful but it worked. Unfortunately it's been so long ago I don't remember how long. I think twice a week for 4-6 weeks? I regained full function in my left shoulder, my right still has some restriction on reaching behind me.

I had a frozen shoulder. It was agony and still doesn't have full pain free movement 2 years on. I had a procedure called hydrodilation or hydrodistension done under a local anaesthetic and it seemed like a miracle cure for about 6 months but it's got increasingly worse over the last few months, not as bad as when I had the treatment though. I just accept that it's always going to be troublesome tbh.people who haven't experienced a true frozen shoulder and gone through all of its stages just do not understand.

@Bluesheep8 I saw the physio today and she’s referring me for hydrodilation. Sorry it hasn’t worked completely for you. Can it be done more than once.
It’s bloody miserable. I’ve had to buy a bra two sizes too big in order to be able to do it up.

I will say that though it took time (about 3 years) my left shoulder did eventually heal completely and I got all the movement back.

Yes I was told it can be done a maximum of 3 times but there is a risk of damaging the capsule if it's done repeatedly. Initially my results were great, but symptoms began again after about 6 months. I've seen an MSK specialist and been referred back to physio. If I'm honest, I wasn't doing as much work with it at home as I was told to, so it's probabky my own fault

I'm really surprised moo e has mentioned an osteopath. With this I called an physio who had been recommended by a nurse friend of mine. He concluded I needed an osteopath he worked with and it got better really quickly - far, far better than I could have imagined (I also had a steroid injection to help it on its way).