Frozen shoulder excruciating😫

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

I’ve had it for 6 months. Seen 3 crap nhs physios and now waiting for a second opinion from the last one who thinks I’ve got atypical frozen shoulder.

I’m going mad with pain, and despite being on antidepressants I’m crying every evening, so it must be bringing me down too.

I want to cut my arm off. The pain is unreal. How is it acceptable to be in so much pain and nothing gets done. I can’t drive either.

I’ve asked for a steroid injection but they won’t do anything g until the ‘urgent’ 2nd opinion 6 weeks away. I can’t take anti inflamatories, so just eating dihydracodeine and paraceatamol. But it’s still fucking unbearable

It seems to have spread to around my shoulder blade now.

I rang the doctors again, but no joy. They won’t do anything until I’ve had the second opinion.😭

I’ve had two. Both took around three years to resolve back to the point where I almost had full motion. Actually I’m 3 years and three months into the second one and back to about 85% now.

It is agony, I agree. I couldn’t wash, dress, brush my hair or sleep the second time around.
I had hydrodilatation with a steroid injection four months in. It was very uncomfortable but my God, what a difference. It stopped the zingers and I got quite a bit more movement.
Physio immediately after and swimming 3 times a week made a huge difference (until lockdown).

What type of stroke when swimming? I can only do the head out of water breaststroke.

I can only do front crawl so I did crawl with my good arm and doggy paddle with my bad one.

I would ask for it to be sorted under anaesthetic. I suffered with mine for almost a year until I finally went for surgery. One day at the hospital, 5 sessions of physio and it was sorted

Can someone describe this frozen shoulder for me

I have had problems with my neck/shoulder for a while (shoulder has been a problem for about 30 years really) but yesterday my upper arm was so painful i was in tears,, I couldnt move my arm without it hurting and then it was just throbbing. I couldnt undress or put my arm behind me
I used some ice packs on my shoulder and upper arm, tied on with a towel and this morning it was much better although still couldnt do my bra up, managed to wash my hair in the shower however

Ive booked a private physio for saturday but am now worrying from what Ive read her that it might not be the right step?

I had chiropracty for a while for migraines about 3 years ago, that also gave me more flexibility in my neck but I worry that perhaps that did me damage?

I keep getting nervy type twinges in my neck and shoulders.
Also my long term problem with the shoulder is actually the shoulder blade, whereas this recent pain has been in the shoulder itself, the bit that your shoulder pads would rest on (if that makes sense)

Things that have helped

1. Ibuprofen gel, high strength. I can't take Naproxen or Ibuprofen tablets, but the gel has helped a lot with awful upper arm pain. Is on prescription but you can buy it in Boots. Four times a day to start.
2. Tempur pillow. I've trained myself to sleep on my back with this - not the shaped one.
3. Microwave Hottie - heat lasts much longer than those wheat things.
4. Meditation- physio told me that if I'm tense, then it will make pain worse. I use Headspace, while using heat pad.
5. Trigger point release - done by a (private) physio. Only temporary but you can diy with a tennis ball in a sock against the wall around your shoulder blade. I've got a lot of referred pain.

I'm 8 months in and still waiting for an appointment with the musculoskeletal team. GP offered a steroid injection but I'm holding out as I'm hoping for a guided injection from the MSK team. I've put on a stone as I have had to stop most activities due to pain ☹️. It's horrible. Good luck.

You have my sympathy I've had a problem with my arm for nearly a year now. The Dr finally sent me for a scan of my shoulder because the physio was unsure what was wrong. I'm now back to the physio but don't need a steroid injection. It did help having the scan.