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Frozen Shoulder

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For the past four months, I have had pain in my upper right arm, 1/2 way between the elbow and shoulder, whenever I move my arm/shoulder away from my body, or over my head. If I move too quickly, the pain can be intense. Otherwise, it’s just wildly uncomfortable, and I have to stop immediately.

Googling around seemed to indicate one of two problems: Frozen Shoulder, or Pinched Nerve.

A week ago on Tuesday, I had my annual physical. My doctor referred me to a leading orthopedic specialist (Lois looked him up, and she thinks he’s the Met’s team physician!). It took over a week to get an appointment, but I got in this past Thursday (two days ago).

After a detailed examination, and five X-Rays, he diagnosed it as Frozen Shoulder.

Vigorous physical therapy is the prescription, with nearly 100% success of recovery. Apparently, even without it, most people regain a majority of their original motion within two years.

He referred me to a top sports therapy group in NYC. We called, and they charge $325 per session. The doctor told me to have three sessions a week. Ouch! $1k/week? I don’t think so. Who needs their right arm anyway? 😉

Seriously though, given all of the manipulation that he did, and that the X-Ray technician did as well, I already had more motion in the arm the next day, and with exercises that I found easily on the web, I intend to start the regimen myself first.

I’m now officially on the road to recovery! 🙂

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hadar

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16 responses to “Frozen Shoulder”

  1. Getting better in Fresno Avatar
    Getting better in Fresno

    I have been enduring frozen shoulder also, since the middle of summer. 2 rounds of PT, massage….nothing but pain. So I tried acupuncture, and I can tell you it’s like voodoo–immediate relief. I was looking for relief of pain, and after the second treatment started gaining range of motion. Give it a try if you’re tired of the painful treatments. It’s uncomfortable, but boy does it work.

  2. hadar Avatar
    hadar

    Thank you very much for letting me know. I was seriously considering acupuncture (for the first time ever) before I saw the orthopedist. Since then, I have been feeling much better (nowhere near normal), so I’m just taking a bit of a wait and see attitude. It’s good to know that if I take a turn for the worse, or don’t continue to improve, that there is an alternative to physical therapy out there.

    Thanks again for sharing your experience with me!

  3. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    everyone,

    I have had frozen shoulder on the right side since the summer of 2006. It was not a total freezing, but the range of motion was about 1/2 it was before, the stiffness and soreness very severe. I had been taking care of my Mom who was very sick at my parents home since the fall of 2004 and starting in december 2005, i suddenly felt a spontaneous attack of pulled muscles around the shoulder, in the upper back, in the mid back on the rght side and around the side to the abdomen.

    I quit all the physical activities and stopped playing guitar. the shoulder was not yet frozen, but I felt like I had been in a car accident. I got all kinds of P.T. and it didn;t help much due to the fact I was under enourmous emotional strain and couldn’t heal. I did some exercises recommeneded by the therapist and this accelerated the freezing of the shoulder. It stayed painful and frozen until summer of 2007 and then started to loosen up. The most improvement has been since my Mom died in the fall of 2007 and since then I have done nothing but rest, sleep, tread water in the pool, take hot epsom salt baths, stretch, not worry about anything, and take Advil PM at night. I am getting better fast and now believe I will be OK by the summer of 2008.

    I bought anew surfboard so it is ready when I am.

    I am a healthy 51 year old.

    Keep the faith. You will eventually heal.

    Aloha.

  4. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    I forgot a key point. I have been getting deep tissue massage every week for the past 8 weeks and this really helps accelerate the healing. Never tired accupuncture, but I heard it works.

    Aloha.

  5. hadar Avatar
    hadar

    Jim, thanks for sharing the above (both). I am getting better, even though I am not doing nearly as much PT as I should. I have 2/3 to 3/4 range of motion (I had maybe 1/4 to 1/3 to begin with), but the biggie is I have no pain any more, which is huge!

    Deep tissue massage sounds like a good tip. Thanks again!

  6. Kim Avatar
    Kim

    Hi, Hadar. I had a frozen shoulder a few years ago. The doc said it could have been from a hairline fracture I sustained while skiing that had already healed. I couldn’t move my arm well over my head or from front to rear–an action frequently required here in Richmond when paying TOLLS! I also couldn’t sleep on that side at night. He told me he could do micro-surgery, or I could try physical therapy. Since I figured I’d need therapy after the surgery anyway, I decided to try that first. I am now a complete believer! I went to about eight sessions, one per week, with a PT who charged $50 session (I co-paid $25 of it). First he applied heat (ahhhhhhh!) and then he and his assistants would give me exercises to do, such as raising a bar over my head, manipulating a rope on a pulley behind my back, and stretching and retracting an elastic band in a forward motion. I also had a chart of exercises to do at home with an elastic band tied to a doorknob. Within eight weeks, all was well! If you would like a copy of my exercises and my elastic band, you are welcome to them–but I’m recommending the heat, too! Maybe you could find a cheaper PT? Hope you feel better! Kim

  7. hadar Avatar
    hadar

    I have been quite surprised at how many people that I know personally have had frozen shoulder. I could tell from research on the Internet that it was more common than you’d think, but even in our small circle. You are the fourth person (you probably know that Shirley had it too!), and one of our friends up north had it in both shoulders (at separate times).

    I’ve heard from others that the heat does wonders. Also, my friend up north has shared her exercise sheets with me. I have just been a little lazy, since the range has increased, and the pain is now gone, but I know I should accelerate the entire process with PT.

    Thanks for the offer, and we hope to see you soon!

  8. Frozen Shoulder Exercise Avatar
    Frozen Shoulder Exercise

    Hadar,
    I'm a registered physical therapist and treat many cases of frozen shoulder each month. I hope yours is getting better. Assuming your diagnosis is correct, the best advice I can give you is to stay with stretching daily. Don't try to force the stretch into strong pain but rather a moderate stretch and HOLD for at least 30 seconds without bouncing. Most cases follow a typical pattern of stiffness so the following exercises usually help: 1) Lie on your back and clasp your hands behind your head and gently push your elbows into the bed, 2) throw a towel over your back with your good arm and grasp with the affected arm and gently pull upward, 3) stand in a doorway and put both hands just above shoulder height and lean in and hold. A rope and pulley does wonders. Be careful in choosing the exercises found on the net as some can waste your time and might even make your problem worse.

  9. hadar Avatar
    hadar

    Thank you very much for taking the time to write such an excellent comment.

    My current frozen shoulder problem is mostly behind me now. I have zero pain no matter what range of motion I attempt. I'm not back to pre-frozen-shoulder mobility, but it's above 95%, so I have no complaints on that front at all.

    All that said, I have a sneaking suspicion that it is developing in my left shoulder now (I have heard that when people get it in one shoulder, they are more likely to get it in the other later on), and I'm keeping an eye on it. Your advice above will come in handy should that become the case.

    Thanks again!

  10. Asian Massage Avatar
    Asian Massage

    Good post. Have bookmarked your blog and will surely come back.

  11. Dr David Black Avatar
    Dr David Black

    Frozen shoulder is a problem that can often he helped by manipulation.
    Dr.David Black
    http://www.blackchiropractic.com.au

  12. Dr David Black Avatar
    Dr David Black

    Frozen shoulder is a problem that can often he helped by manipulation.
    Dr.David Black
    http://www.blackchiropractic.com.au

  13. mitchdcba Avatar
    mitchdcba

    My current frozen shoulder problem is mostly behind me now. I have zero pain no matter what range of motion I attempt. I'm not back to pre-frozen-shoulder mobility, but it's above 95%, so I have no complaints on that front at all.

    Shoulder Pain Treatment

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