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

Seems to be getting worse. Tried to do an arm exercise today which involved lying face down on the floor and lifting my arm above an object on the floor, to get my scapula to move I guess, and screamed in agony.

A friend had to help me get my coat on earlier. What the hell do I do if I get to a point where I can’t get dressed? I’m using my bad armless and less and it’s my dominant arm so it’s really difficult

Normal progression i am afraid.
Try acupuncture . Can help with pain.
And physio. But you ll need to adapt for a while.
Eg do up bra in front thenswivel it round

Physio and acupuncture helped me. Plus (on the Physio’s advice) not using anti inflammatories for too long as they can slow healing, only use at the start when it is agonising.

I feel for you @FrozenShoulder I had it once many years ago and I was on the point of vomiting with the pain at times. The only thing that worked was a private course of acupuncture and I was very sceptical that it would work but it did.

You have my sympathy
Mine was 2 years , really improved at 18 months with Vit D spray and Voltarol gel, the higher strength one .

I’ve got vit d spray and voltarel gel now and am using those.

think I’m going to have to find an acupuncturist next.

I've had two. First was my right shoulder and absolute agony as you've described, regularly collapsing/crumbling to the floor after an awkward movement, with no way to stop the tears. NHS sent me for physio - physio said they couldn't really do anything until after the pain stopped. (I went back at that stage but didn't find the physio did much - it's not a muscular thing and they can't physically stretch you open again).

I paid to go to a BUPA specialist who said the casing around the shoulder joint was meant to be like wide elastic, but had effectively turned to seat belt material. Made sense to me. He did an injection and it made such a massive difference I just couldn't believe it. Still took a good 18 months, maybe 2 years to feel normal but I still don't have full movement 3 years later. (Eg if I lie down on the floor to try to reach something under the bed, I can't do it, but normal day to day is ok).

Just as my right shoulder started to recover, I got it in my left. I couldn't believe it. I went back to the same BUPA specialist straight away to get the injection. This time it didn't seem to do anything. Again, took about 18,.maybe 20months to get better.

I dread reading about the fact that once you've had it you are more likely to get it again.but definitely try the injection. It can't make it worse and yo might get lucky like I did with my first.

I had this woke up and did exactly what everyone else says but one day I happened to see a video being shown as an advertisement at a train station and because of that I saw a chiropractor the next day - within an hour I was doing my washing and well on the mend !!
book an appointment although it was uncomfortable it was instant relief

@Smidge001 can you remember if it was a steroid injection or the one where they put a volume of water in the joint to do something?

OP ,I don't think you should be recruiting when shoulder is at ours most frozen.

My sympathies, unfortunately I’d say mine lasted about 2.5 years, mainly because I did the typical thing of ignoring it for ages thinking I’d just pulled something (it took me a long time to realise it was my shoulder, thought it was my upper arm muscle at first) and just complained for a few months about how much it hurt. Took me mistiming a step over a gap and falling back and throwing my arms back as a reflex and screaming in pain and crying on the street for my husband to lose patience and forced me to make a doctors appointment. NHS physio and steroid injections were arranged pretty quickly (if you’re in the north east you can self refer to the musculoskeletal service and they’re great) but neither gave me much relief until one day it just started to feel a bit better, and then eventually I could do my bra up again and didn’t need any help. Time really is the best healer for a frozen shoulder but it really doesn’t help to hear that when you’re in the throes of it.

I’m seeing the nhs physio on Tuesday. @JasonTindallsTan i thought it was my upper arm at first too!

Mine resolved on its own. I had an excruciating pain one night and something popped and it went. That doesn’t help I know know but, things that helped, an orthopaedic pillow. Memory foam and quite firm, takes some getting used to but the only way I could sleep laying down. Also a shoulder support that I made it feel nice and tight that I could insert an heat or ice pack into.

Funny isn’t it, once someone mentioned it could be my should I was like ‘of course it’s my shoulder’ but it just hadn’t occurred to me before then 🤦🏼‍♀️ felt really stupid!

I had a frozen shoulder on left shoulder about 5 years ago. I had about 4 months physio which I often felt made it feel worse, another scan then was offered injection. That did help a bit but after about 12 weeks seemed to wear off. I was given codeine as it was sombad I couldn't get to sleep. It finally seemed to thaw after about 2 years of the start. Last year my right shoulder was diagnosed as being frozen. I've lost ability to put my own bra on and some days even brushing my hair is hard. Again I had physio but after 3 months it had got worse. I had a scan and it turned out to be a rotator cuff injury and not a frozen shoulder. It's odd because it felt just the same pain as my previous frozen shoulder. I was told to sleep on my back. All well and good but once asleep I rolled over on to my shoulder sometimes and the next morning I was in agony. It's better than it was but I've basically rested it a lot by using my left arm to do things like lift a saucepan with water in or a kettle. I never carry shopping in my right arm etc. Over time I think it is improving I wanted an operation but my GP said I had to wait to see if it would heal itself first. It's been about 16 months now. Still painful but not all the time usually in morning if I've lain on it in the night.

I’ve had frozen shoulder, which got to the point where I was unable to move my arm behind my back at all, let alone raise it. Physio did nothing whatsoever, but a steroidal injection completely cured it. It took a week or so to take effect and then was like a magic treatment.

I think I have this too did you go to the go about it ?

I developed a way of putting on my coat by dipping my bad arm into the sleeve first, then pulling the collar of the coat round the back with my good arm. Many things were hard to put on; I found that stepping into loose clothes was much easier than putting them on over my head or trying to do up anything at the back. I found some stretchy bra tops that I could step into and wriggle my arms into, and they were much more comfortable than a normal bra as well as easier to manage. The immobility was very bad, but I never had to ask for help with dressing or undressing, except once when I was on a very hot and crowded train and had to ask the man sitting next to me to hold on to the sleeve of my jacket so I could stand up slowly and hoik my arm out of it.
This too will pass, OP. I had it twice, each time for about a year altogether, and now it's a distant memory. I thought I was starting a third episode recently but I'm pretty sure now that it's not actually a frozen shoulder but some other injury.

Had this for months. Had physio etc . Nothing worked until the injection. Well worth it !

Sorry I don’t have experience of this, but saw that EMS can help frozen shoulder. A treatment called Emsculpt. I’m not sure exactly how it works but it sends a shockwave into the muscle

I had two in quick succession. Agony. You have my sympathy.

sorry to be a harbinger of doom but both took 18 months to clear. Both times just before I was due to have a Manipulation Under Anaesthetic.

Nothing touched the pain. Not even morphine patches, or injections.

Sorry op it’s a waiting game.

So my gp won’t see anyone for this sort of thing, I was sent straight to an nhs physio. They referred me for an ultrasound scan. I paid privately to speed it up. They said no rotator cuff injury and that’s it’s a frozen shoulder. I’m back at the nhs physio next week to discuss next steps. I’m hoping they’ll do a steroid injection quickly. No idea if he can prescribe better pain relief.

Definitely the steroid injection. I read about the water thing online but (a) it sounded like torture and thankfully (b) the specialist never mentioned it .

I did n’t find nhs physio especially helpful part form the routine. They gave me exercises but I struggled to do them effectively because of lack of range and progress. Private physio was more hands on and started them post injection which was steroid, painkiller and hydrodilatation. I had some relief same day. Last mri showed significant less adhesive capsulitis than beforehand. I did mine privately to speed it along but dh was referred on nhs by physios for his and he saw instant benefit.

I've had 3,! First one, I went to the osteopath I had been using for many years,he was on holiday, colleague miss diagnosed dislocation, said he would put it back,in hospital you have sedation,he said it would hurt like hell. Drove home screaming,saw "my"osteopath,he told me not to lift my arm above shoulder height for,6 months, worse advice ever .Now I'm working on a stroke unit FS very common,I realised what it was GP confirmed, physio and gym sessions. Other arm went. GP put me on diazepam as muscle reluctant. Analgesics did nothing. I found sleeping on the floor was best. Then right arm,saw an article in the newspaper we aren't allowed to mention, about a Swedish Osteopath Neil Asher, called "treat your own frozen shoulder".
You actually can't do it yourself,was going to teach my DH,you really need a decent command of anatomy. Oldest DD was a trained masseuse and aromatherapist, she lived quite a long drive away, but with the excercises, and her treatment 6 weeks. It's very common in post menopausal women, diabetics. I have never actually met a bloke with one.