Frozen shoulder

[FrozenShoulder]

Been told my shoulder pain and loss of movement is due to this.

anyone had this and how long did it take to resolve? Anyone found anything which helped, physio, injections, exercises, HRT? Thinking of asking the GP about steroid injections but bet there’s a major long waiting list so maybe I’ll just pay £200 to have it done privately

I’m 2+ years in. Kept being told physio which did nothing. The last one I saw was amazing and within a few minutes stopped the appointment and emailed the GP.

I’ve been on all the painkillers under the sun. I couldn’t sleep it’s so bad.

I was put on a waiting list for steroid injections and surgery referral. I gave up and went private. I’m three months in from the injections, the pain when not moving or trying to sleep is gone. However there is still not a lot of movement and some pain. I’m going for an ultrasound privately next week with likely surgery to follow.

I have had no letter appointment for annoy treatment yet with the NHS. My mental health is in the bin not being able to go to the gym and being in constant pain.

If you can get steroid injections do it and see a surgeon as soon as possible.

You need something like Naproxen to help the pain.

Ibuprofen gel isn’t strong enough.

I’ve had frozen shoulder 3 times. Shouldn’t happen twice in one shoulder but it has.

1st - lasted 5 years as it weakened so much. took a year to diagnose which didn’t help. NHS physio was useless. Private was not much better. However private GP with muscular skeletal specialism was excellent.

2nd - nipped in the bud straight away with cortisone injection. Less than 3months

3rd - still a problem. Made somewhat better by a shoulder dilation with cortisone. But that was a horrific procedure. However. Has helped a bit.

what has also helped this time. Seeing a fabulous physio who is helping me with mobility and strength

its called 50yo shoulder in Japanese.
more common in women over 40
more common in women with auto immune disease (like thyroid)

What can help avoid it happening again:
optimal HRT
Optimal thyroid
optimal Vitamin D levels
keeping strong and fit

a frozen shoulder has a particular life cycle and you can go backwards if you over do it. So you have to work on mobility and strength but try to not over do it. Push it a little but not so far that you go backwards. Little and often.

and remember the injections are only intended to allow you space in which to strengthen and mobilise. They are not a cure. It gets better when it gets better. But if caught early enough you may sometimes shorten the recovery. But no guarantees. In the meantime get HRT. Get nutrition tip top. And generally look at overall health to help your body deal with this.

i had western acupuncture first time round. Really helped with the pain. And eased it for a short period.

The NHS physio told me I had this and that it would get worse before it got better. He saw me for about 5 minutes.
I saw a private physio who said it was an inflammation of the rotator cuff. She gave me exercises which I followed religiously as I was in so much pain and was completely cured in a couple of months.

Oh you have my heartfelt sympathy OP, I had a frozen shoulder a couple of years ago and it was the worst pain of my life! 😢 Mine lasted almost a year, I'm sorry to say. I tried everything - at least 8 different painkillers, physio, cortisone injection... Nothing worked, until my physio suggested hydrodilatation. It was a short outpatient procedure, felt a bit "weird", but the relief was almost instant. If you possibly can, try and get referred for that rather than wasting time on physio. In my experience, the physio was helpful after the hydro procedure, but useless before it as my shoulder was literally frozen and wouldn't react to physio.
Best of luck and hope it doesn't last a year for you!

Honestly you have my complete sympathy. Currently have froxen shoulder since last year. I have haf a steroud injection which helped for a coyole of weeks and NHS physio although I ude the word loosely as they do nothing.

I'm due to have hydrodilation on 3rd November and I am nervous as heard it can be painful.

Surely it can"t be as bafmd as catching your bad arm though as that knocks me sick sometimes!!

I've had frozen shoulder previously in my other arm and it did go away after a very long time!

I'd love to be able to shave ny armpit again 🤣🤣

I had it and it was so painful. 2 sessions of acupuncture got rid of it, I was about 80% better after the first session. Thankfully never had it again.

more common in women over 40
more common in women with auto immune disease (like thyroid)

tick both boxes.

my vit d is often low, need to get spraying again. I’m going to ask the gp about HRT and also naproxen.

Going to try acupuncture too, am desperate!

Oh gosh that’s pants. And yes EDS would be a contributing factor.

have you had your Hormones, thyroid and nutrition panels done? Def worth going all out on the HRT and nutrition if you can.

I’ve read a lot on it recently and it all points to this approach being helpful.

Best of luck

Much sympathy. It’s bloody agony for ages but it does get better in the end. I’ve had it twice and the whole process from the first ache to full recovery took about a year.

Oh yes, armpit shaving. Can’t shave my bad side as i can’t lift the arm up enough to get in. Can barely shave my good side as struggling to reach over!

I feel like I’m 90yo.

Had a full thyroid function done a while ago as I was suspicious I had thyroid issues but came back fine…and this was private so they did the full panel iirc.

vit d was about 20 when I last had it tested a few years ago, I did get a mouth spray but haven’t taken any in a year. Never had a hormone panel done.

Ahh you've made me nervous now I'm due gor dilation on 3rd November...why was it so bad?

The thing that sorted mine once it had frozen was going to a water park and swinging on the trapeze. It was agony and I was very glad of the life jacket but the next day it was sorted. I think I basically tore all the adhesions which is what they normally do under ga.

I had what they said was frozen shoulder for almost a year and then had an mri, which showed major damage in my shoulder and subsequent shoulder reconstructive surgery, six weeks of being immobilised and lots of physio (I can’t take ibuprofen so pain relief is hard but you cannot do the physio properly without it). Unfortunately I did then develop a frozen shoulder and hydrodilatation/ physio didn’t help so I. had to have further surgery to manipulate it and tidy up internal scar tissue etc. I’m still having fortnightly physio 2.5 years later with constant pain but I do have a lot of movement back. I did all of this privately otherwise I’d probably still be waiting for it to unfreeze.

Time. Give it a year.
Massage physio helped. And Chinese acupuncture.

My sympathies to all who've suffered! Each of my shoulders has frozen, and it was agony. I couldn't drive for MONTHS, couldn't cook, struggled to wfh, even washing was a challenge. And I wore stupid clothes that my mum had to velcro for me at my worst.

Yes, I'm over 40 and have since been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis-an autoimmune. And the fear of another one is a big part of me thinking about going on hrt!

I've had FS in both shoulders. Both idiopathic (no identifiable cause). The first was a hideous 5 years, the second, 10 years later, was 9 months, and it didn't freeze completely. I chose to go with the no treatment option - true FS will resolve on it's own.

A physio colleague said it would take 18 months to resolve on its own and nothing much would speed it up. During the first stage its too painful to do anything with but guard it and take anti inflammatories. Later on I just did gentle exercises off the internet like walking your fingers up the wall and leaning over so that gravity pulled your arm away from your body until the range of movement increased. It did take 18 months to rectify and be able to fasten my bra at the back (which I used as one of the exercises actually to stretch it although painful).

I had the start of frozen shoulder. Painful! Saw an acupuncturist a few times. Instant relief. A few sessions & all ok. Mine was caught early tho. Good luck!

I’m glad I had not researched what it was

there was one doctor and two nurses in the room. When I entered the room, I didn’t wonder why there were two nurses. However, it became clear once the procedure started
Doctor to perform the procedure with the help of the ultrasound
first nurse to operate the ultrasound
second nurse was probably there to hold me down!

At the end of the day, they are trying to stretch the joint using water. I Guess it feels like someone is trying to stretch the joint by forcing water into it!

Would I do it again? If I had to, yes!

Best of luck with yours

I had a frozen shoulder and remember the pain from bumping my elbow, so you have my utmost sympathy.

I tried a chiropractor who did suggest acupuncture, but I didn’t go that route. My GP referred me for hydrodilatation on the NHS (it was a six week wait) but it didn’t go ahead in the end.

By the time of the hydrodilation appointment my shoulder was just getting into the thawing stage, and the pain was receding. It was 3 months freezing, 3 months freezing painful, and 3 months thawing. I have full range of motion now.

I didn’t stop using that arm. I did the Harvard exercises and took ibruprofen (make sure you take ibuprofen with food). I slept with my arm supported on a pillow, which helped a lot.

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

Mine was nothing like that! The radiologist did the ultrasound then injected about five ampoules, anaesthetic, steroid and hydrodilatation. I was seated on the end of a treatment couch. Nurse was on hand to help position me and hand over the ampoules.