Does PT help at all?

Mine has been going on for a year and a half.  I did 20 PT sessions last year (the most my insurance would cover - I'm in the US) and I did feel some benefit.  Did it cure it No, but I did get a bit more range of motion while I was going.  I would have loved to have gone every week but it would have cost a small fortune.  I'm getting there, the Dr hopes no more than another 6 months - urgh!

Hi Jill

I have found that physio usually agrivates my shoulder a gentle massage by a physio is good but they tend to want to do rough massage .

But ive had acupuncture. Cortisone injections.pyhsio.and hydradialation and they have all seemed to make it worse so i personally say let it run its course but every one seems to be different.

I now have a frozen left shoulder and bursitis in my right that i had injections in both a week ago and have been in worse pain ever since and now have a lot less movement in my right shoulder .

I have been working on lighter duties up to about 4 weeks ago and my good shoulder was deteriorating really quickly while stil trying to work then i was to the point of being so stressed and not much sleep ect .

I got a bad cold and just so run down now you have to really try to take care of yourself during the process as if your employed your employer and work cover will try to keep you doing too much and people say yeh but its only your shoulder but the constant pain and lack off sleep catch up to you after a while .

I have had my frozen shoulder for 10 months now and work cover a trying to push the specialist to operate but i am hesitant as i have a heart condition.

So dont let people push you around and if your paying for physio then make sure your getting one that helps not hurts you.

As if its a work cover physio they just try to hurry you back to work and can cause a lot more damage so be careful.

And it can take upto 2 years to come good depending on life factors of age ect.

But try not to let it get you down there are lots of people in the same boat.

Lauren

Your joint is inflamed. Laying down scar tissue to imobilize your joint is how our bodies protect the joint.  If you can keep moving your arm as much as possible and accept some pain with this action, you may not have as much work to do when it finally starts to thaw in regaining your ROM.    There is a belief that timing is everything and too much pt may keep you inflamed.   1-2 years of work may be ahead of you.  Sorry. 

I'm sorry but I have to strongly disagree with those that advocate the "no pain, no gain" approach.  I may be wrong but it seems to be more prevelant in the US than the UK.   While keeping your shoulder moving as much as possible and gentle stretching excercises may be helpful the advice I've always been told is to stop if it hurts.  Some eminent shoulder consultants tell patients to actively avoid physiotherapy at all, until the thawing stage, as it can do more harm than good.  It may be that the people who advocate this do get better in time - but so do others that don't go through this painful therapy

Sorry to be contraversial - no offence meant to those who gave the opposite advice but I just had to point out that this view is not universally accepted.  Do some research, read through other posts on here and use your own judgement.  I know we're all different and what works for one, does not necessarily work for someone else but painful physiotherapy is not the only way forward.  What has worked for me is hydrodilatation and gentle (non-painful) excercising.  After about 14 months, I am almost back to normal, have about 80% plus of my movement back and have been without pain for 6 months.

Good luck Jill - try to remember it will get better in time.

I was told (and have read) that PT helps in about 90% of cases.  In my case, I was among the 10% for whom it didn't work, so they recommended that I discontinue. 

Hi Jill,

I have had 7 sessions of it and I don't think it's helping me either.

I am more sore and painful after it.

It seems like so much pain to move a millimeter more.

I am wondering if just doing light exercises to keep it moving is good enough...

I too am wondering if letting it take its course with painkillers and a little movement is best..

Hi Jill. I may not be the same case because i had surgery twice for a broken humerus. I have suspected frozen shoulder but it is post operative stiffness as opposed to idiopathic fs. However, i can attest that intense therapy is helping me considerably. But it took a while to start seeing results. I only did 2 sessions of basic physio a week for the first 6 weeks and saw no range of motion improvement. I then started seeing a chiropractor who specializes in ART sports therapy and i began to get bk range of motion immedistely. So i do physio 3 times a week and ART twice. Mon-fri. I then walk 1 hour every day while doing the exercises and stretching on my own 3 times a day. It is very painful while they manipulate my arm but it stops as soon as tyhey stop--- that is whats key. If your pain settles right away after the stretching then it is ok.

Keep the faith! I had many crying sessions over the last 10 weeks but i believe im turning the corner with this dedicated rehab schedule

Hi Jill,  not that it is going to help you but I really don't agree with the 'no pain, no gain' attitude - sorry Bobby My FS also stemmed from an injury and I eventually listened to my body and common sense and truly believe this awful thing will run its course come what may. PT made it worse and glad I stopped it. By putting yourself through even more pain could also cause issues with an underlying injury if that hasnt been properly diagnosed first as FS then overides everything.  When you have gone through the first painful stage of FS and the pain dissapears but there is limited movement then is the time to gently start the regular exercises in my opinion.  I always ask any doctor or PT if they have had FS because as you know until anyone does they have NO IDEA the level of pain and trauma.  Also some are wrongly diagnosed and it is not a real FS.  Fortunately I finally met one who did have FS and her advice to me was try not to fight it, accept that you are going to be less active for a while and be kind to yourself.  Dont stop doing everything but know your limits, it does get better  )  I am now pain free and with full movement returned.   Sometimes you just have to slow your life down and benefit from therapeutic therapies to help you through.  It is one of the most frustrating things to happen and I wish you all the best with whtever path you choose

Thanks everyone for your responses.  Much appreciated.  I intend to go to 1 or 2 more PT sessions and then re-evaluate.  I'm concerned that it may be doing more harm than good at this point as I don't think my original injury has completely healed yet.

I had not even heard of the term "frozen shoulder" until I was diagnosed with it.  I certainly feel for everyone else going through this!

Hi Jill...

You can tell by the passion on this thread that different things work for different people. I'm in the "gentle physio" camp, only because I tried a different therapist in the "no pain no gain" camp & I'm sure it set me back some weeks because my shoulder wanted to heal, not have yet more rips & tears to cope with. The best thing I did for myself was to quit.

I started exercises again some months later when I could feel the ROM returning - thawing! And I'm in physio again for my second FS - so far so good. Here is an insightful journal article about this that may be helpful to your physiotherapist - it was to mine. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096148/

There are lots of good tips on this forum to help you through. Use FS as a teachable moment with your kids in the meantime. You can't play catch now, but you will again one day!

Liane