FROZEN SHOULDER

A frozen shoulder can be a bothersome and nagging problem, with pain and stiffness going on for quite some time.

WHAT’S A

FROZEN SHOULDER?

This name just refers to a tightening of the soft tissue around your shoulder, with subsequent pain and stiffness.

WHAT CAUSES IT?

People with Diabetes and Thyroid problems tend to get a frozen shoulder more often than others, but other people can get it too.

It can happen after a shoulder injury, like when you fall and hit or twist your shoulder, or after your arm has been immobilised for a prolonged period, like if you had to wear a cast for a few months.

WILL IT HEAL

ON ITS OWN?

All frozen shoulders will recover, given enough time, as long as the tissue in your shoulder has not been injured. If you have a rotator cuff injury (like a tendon tear), you’ll still have pain and weakness in your shoulder, even after your frozen shoulder has recovered.

However, if your shoulder problem is ONLY a frozen shoulder, it definitely will recover, you just need to give it time.

HOW LONG DOES IT

TAKE TO RECOVER?

This is the irritating bit. A frozen shoulder typically takes anywhere from a year to two and a half years to fully recover.

It goes through several phases as it develops and then heals:

Freezing phase: you’ll have worsening pain and stiffness
Frozen phase: you won’t have so much pain, but your shoulder will still be very stiff
Thawing phase: your shoulder stiffness will gradually improve

Each phase lasts 4 to 6 months, so the entire process takes quite a bit of time to develop and resolve.

DO I NEED TO SEE

A SPECIALIST?

It is useful to see a specialist, since he or she may want to send you for an Ultrasound or MRI scan of your shoulder. The point of this scan is to confirm the diagnosis of a frozen shoulder, and to look for any other problems in your shoulder, like a rotator cuff tear.

A scan is not absolutely necessary, and some specialists (especially the older and more traditional ones) may choose to diagnose a frozen shoulder based on their examination findings, and manage you based on that.

HOW CAN I SPEED

MY RECOVERY UP?

You can do some physiotherapy to help the stiffness settle a bit faster. You’ll need to work on your shoulder stretches very regularly - every 1 to 2 days. Check out our page on ‘SHOULDER STRETCHES’ to learn how to do some simple stretches. If your shoulder is too stiff to do a lot of the stretches, you can start out by simply trying to ‘walk’ your arm up the wall, aiming to go a bit higher each day.

Be careful to do these shoulder stretches gently. If you jerk or twist a frozen shoulder too strongly, you can actually break your arm bone because of how tight the shoulder joint tissue is, especially if you're a bit older and your bones aren't so strong anymore.

If you try some gentle stretches at home and find that you aren’t really responding, it would be beneficial to see a Physiotherapist so that he or she can guide you through the different shoulder exercises you need to do. Medical studies do indicate that supervised physiotherapy is superior to home therapy, so seeing a professional Physiotherapist is definitely worth considering.

DO I NEED SURGERY?

Some people may elect to go for a procedure or an operation to try and have their frozen shoulder recover faster.

Your specialist can send you to see a Radiologist for an image-guided joint injection - they inject a lot of fluid into your shoulder joint to try and ‘burst’ the tight tissues around the shoulder joint.

Alternatively, your Orthopaedic Surgeon may offer to do a shoulder scope surgery, where he or she will cut the tight tissues to release them, restoring your shoulder mobility.

THE PAIN IS

UNBEARABLE!

A frozen shoulder can be terribly painful, especially in the early stage. See a doctor so that they can prescribe you some strong painkillers to get you through the initial painful phase.

Alternatively, a specialist can give you an injection into your shoulder joint. This injection contains a mixture of a local anaesthetic agent to reduce your pain, along with a ‘steroid’ to reduce the inflammation in the shoulder joint tissue.

WRAP IT UP!

A frozen shoulder can be very painful and inconvenient to go through, but take heart! It definitely will heal - it just needs time and some simple shoulder stretches.