Frozen shoulder - told to expect a 30 month recovery period!!!!

[margoandjerry]

can anyone give me any comfort?

Have had agonising arm pain for the past three months - brought on by routine tasks like opening an envelope (literally), opening a door, putting on a coat. I now have stiffness so that my right arm barely moves outwards or upwards.

Have seen an orthopaedic surgeon who gave me a steroid and local anaesthetic injection which has made no difference. Am seeing him again in two weeks but please - can someone tell me they had a frozen shoulder and it healed itself more quickly than nearly three years! My baby will be at school by then ffs

I don't know much about this but I was talking to a hairdresser today who was off work a good part of last year with a frozen shoulder. It was a long time but it was less than a year although I remember they told her it could be a lot longer. Sorry probably not much comfort - she told me how painful it is, sorry that you have this.

Sounds about right. Frozen shoulder typically takes a couple of years to improve, and nothing much makes a difference. Sorry.

my mother has suffered with this a couple of times now ... I think acupuncture on a regular basis was the key to her speeding up recovery.

My DH had one and saw the osteopath who fixed it in about three months. His best mate went down the surgical route about the same time, he's still not fixed (several years later).

I'm told diclofenac can help the pain side.

thanks for replying. Must be a nightmare if you are a hairdresser . I am washing my hair with one hand...

Went to an acupuncturist today. Hope my qi starts moving

I had a very slightly frozen one that only took a year to fix (and was much better after a few months), but it wasn't too bad to begin with. I certainly know people who've been messed up for a couple of years.

m&j, I had this exact thing - same symptoms and diagnosis (and it is horrible, I really feel for you). But after several pointless weeks of physio, I had acupuncture and it really did fix it. It was great. The treatment I had involved a row of needles from the back of my neck down the shoulder and arm to my little finger, then they left them n for 20 mins, had this 4 or 5 times and it was sorted. And I am a super-sceptic rationalist with no time at all for new age wibble, so I wasn't expecting it to work but it really did. So good luck and perhaps it will be better soon after all.