Frozen Shoulder Syndrome is an extremely painful condition characterised by pain and stiffness of the shoulder and has the medical profession stumped.

There’s lots of theories about the cause and pain killers are prescribed by the bucket load, but from my experience, nothing works. If there was a medicinal cure for Frozen Shoulders, the chemist shops would have walls covered with the stuff.

Some doctors say “leave a frozen shoulder alone for 18 months” and it will get better on its own. It will eventually get better, but in reality, it will take a lot longer than that.

X-rays can’t reveal the cause of shoulder stiffness in most cases of primary adhesive capsulitis, and an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Image) shows soft tissue and may be used in cases in which another disorder is suspected, such as a rotator cuff tear. So when nothing shows up, it’s frustrating to be told there’s nothing wrong with your shoulder when it’s really hurting like blazes.

Signs and symptoms of frozen shoulder.

The pain of a frozen shoulder can be horrendous. Ask a sufferer what the pain would be on a scale between 1 and 10 and you’ll often hear 20.  To say  ‘My shoulder is really hurting’ doesn’t even come close to describing what you’re actually experiencing.

The major symptoms of frozen shoulder are pain and loss of motion:

• Night pain and especially when trying to lay on the affected side.
• Severe sharp catching pain at the front of the shoulder when you inadvertently extend the arm and lasting up to a minute or so. (You have to protectively hold the shoulder tightly).
• Pain from seemingly harmless activity.
• Pain reaching for the hip pocket, (not necessarily a bad thing especially if it’s your shout) putting on or taking off a shirt, brushing the hair and inability to do up bra.
• Pain down the outer upper side of the arm.
• Inability to drive.
• Swelling of tendons causes severe limitation in movement, especially reaching up behind the back.

Immobility / Stiffness

This is the key diagnosis of a frozen shoulder. You can’t move the arm and neither can anyone else if they lift the arm for you. If they do try, it’s extremly painful! The shoulder becomes stiff or stuck anywhere between 48 hours to a month from the initial pain and it’s all downhill from there. If your shoulder is not ‘stuck’ you may not have a true Frozen Shoulder. Many people are forced to give up work as a result of the pain and stiffness that commonly persists for many years.

The inability to work and the constant pain and stiffness can have a considerable impact on you psychologically as well as financially and you can become extremely depressed and anxious as a result.

Frozen Shoulder Facts:

• 2-5% of the population suffer from it. (This doesn’t mean 95-98% enjoy it.)
• It is more common in women (60%)
• It is five times more common in diabetics.
• It is common, but not limited to people with Dupuytren’s contracture (an uncommon hand condition where the connective tissue under the skin of the palm contracts and hardens over time.
• It may be genetic. i.e it can run in the family.
• It seems to affect 40-70 year old.
• About 15% of people get it on both sides.

There are three phases to frozen shoulder, (which lasts an average of 30 months… perhaps longer) if untreated.

1. Freezing (1 – 8 months) You notice some things you normally do are starting to hurt.
2. Frozen (9 – 16 months) It’s full on! Any movement using the arm is incredibly painful.
3. Thawing (12 – 18 months) Slowly gets back to normal and pain free use of the arm.

Not much to look forward to, is it.

The pain and loss of function associated with this condition can become so severe that it can significantly affect the quality of life, and prevent some people from sleeping well or working.

Why did I develop a frozen shoulder?

There’s no explanation for the development of frozen shoulder in most patients. The majority of cases seem to be more prevalent in women. Some who develop frozen shoulder have sustained an injury and developed stiffness as a result. The trauma can be quite mild or severe, and the body’s response to the event is probably more important than the event itself.

What is happening inside my frozen shoulder…?

The shoulder joint is a ball and socket (Gleno-humeral) joint. The ball is at the top of the Humerus (arm bone), and the socket is a shallow cup on the end of the scapula (shoulder blade).

Surrounding the Gleno-humeral joint (shoulder joint) is a bag or sack called the Capsule. When the arm is raised above the head, this Capsule is fully stretched. When the arm is lowered to the side, the capsule hangs down like a small pouch.

Inflammation.

In a Frozen Shoulder Syndrome, the lax capsular sack and the synovial fluid it contains becomes sticky and thick and can sometimes form adhesions. The stickiness is brought on through inflammation. This can occur after a small injury, like reaching for the back seat of the car, but often you may not remember anything. Once established this inflammation spreads into other shoulder soft-tissues and can cause swelling in other shoulder sacks (bursae).

Stiffness.

The stiffness is an ‘overreaction’ to the inflammation within the biceps groove. The body seems to ‘switch off’ muscles in a co-ordinated sequence. This sequence is the same for everyone. Arm movements start to diminish, and within a few weeks the arm literally becomes frozen and for many, cannot be raised more than 40° in any direction. The muscles of the rotator cuff become weak and start slowly to waste away, leaving the arm to hang stiff and immobile.

The inability to work and the constant pain and stiffness can have a considerable impact on you psychologically as well as financially, and patients can become extremely depressed and anxious as a result.

Stiffness may not be fully stiff for several months and both active and passive movements are stiff and neither you nor anyone else can lift it because it’s too painful!

Halleujah.

The good news is that even very severe types of Frozen Shoulder syndrome can be treated effectively. Treating Frozen Shoulders is massage based and naturally utilises the body’s own healing mechanisms. No drugs, no surgery. It utilises a specific sequence of manipulations to the shoulder joints and soft-tissues.

Conventional approaches to treating frozen shoulder syndrome involve painful injections of cortisone, months of physical therapy and or surgery.

In a frozen shoulder there is masses of inflammation and on top of this the brain starts to recruit the ‘wrong’ muscles to move the shoulder.

I ‘trick’ the body and the brain into healing itself by addressing the two main components of the problem … the pain and the stiffness.   Initially the aim is to significantly reduce the pain by treating the swelling around various shoulder tendons, especially the biceps tendon.

Following this, the technique moves on to rapidly ‘defrost’ and improve the range of shoulder motion by stimulating a unique sequence of reflexes hidden within the muscles.  One reflex is triggered against another in sequence and the arm is not forced.  Instead it’s kept still whilst applying the pressure.

Patients treated with this massage based technique will notice a definite improvement with each treatment session. These should be twice a week for twenty to thirty minutes a session and complete relief will be within twelve weeks.

There is a couple of testimonials regarding Frozen Shoulders you might care to visit, and if you believe you maybe displaying the symptoms of this condition… call me.  Frozen Shoulders CAN be fixed… but NOT with medication.

Tags: frozen shoulder, muscle tear, rotator cuff
Posted in Frozen Shoulders, Neck and Shoulders by Neil Case | No Comments »