frozen shoulder lost almost all external rotation!

Ok so I'm not alone! I also had surgery for labrum, bicep and bone shaving six months ago! I was only in a sling 3 weeks but my arm has never moved since surgery! I did the pt, cortizone, high doses of oral steroids, dyna splint and still nothing'. I scheduled for the capsular release surgery on nov 30th but I wanted to get a couple of opinion on whether to do surgery or wait it out! I saw a surgeon on thurs and when he saw my labrum repair he said that as a surgeon he would have never put the Ancors that our now holing my labrum closed in! He said there should be a small hole and most people have it and my surgeon anchored it and he believed that why I have lost of movement not just frozen shoulder! Because like you I could lift my arm up if someone forced it but my external is just stuck! I have another surgeon up in la that I am having look at it on Monday! Neither of these drs take my Insurance so I am stuck using the original dr! But if this guy says the same thing and it's the labrum anchors prohibiting the movement it's a little scary to go back under with him!!! So I feel very confused on my next move! You could have the same problem the anchors in you labrum might be the culprit):

Yes this is common for frozen shoulder. Im 15 months into FS and am finally past the frozen stage. There is also good information on Facebook under the frozen shoulder friends good. One lady posted a picture of herself lying down showing how she couldn't get the arm to externally rotate to touch the floor like her other one. I tried it myself and it was the same for me. How odd that I never noticed! My daughter also mentioned that by shoulder blade on the FS side was really popped out. Turns out I now have a winged scapula. Try to exercise that arm to keep your bicep muscles from shrinking. It's a mess of things that show up from this. Good luck.

Hi Alison,

in my case for capsular release a Xiaflex injection helped give back full ROM.

XIAFLEX HAS BEEN RECIENTLY APPROVED TO TREAT FS. It's a protien that only disolves the material in the capsule causing the restrictions for movement. See Google.

After  a few weeks back to the doctor for mannipulation. Then splinting and Physio

The trick is to find a specialist who is trained to use Xiaflex.

Hi Allison, 

I had capsular release surgery yesterday. The dr said my labrum was healed great with no new tears. He said I had a tonne of scar tissue in the front where I had the injury trauma (lesser tuberosity and sunscapularis). So he cleaned that out and told me he was able to rotate my arm to 70deg. I am cautiously optimistic though, as it is still extremely painful for me to try to rotate my arm out. I thought it would naturally go out at least 15-20 dog after surgery but I am stiffened up like crazy today and list half the ROM I had before surgery. It is going to be very painful to get it going again but I am determined. I really hope the surgery made a difference but it's too early fir me to tell. What did your other surgical consult say?

Well he basically diagnosed me with extreme bad luck😂😂. Anyway I'm going for the surgery on the 30th but my dr will look closely at the repair to make sure there are no issues before manipulating it! I'm glad you are doing ok! Hopefully things will get less painful for both of us! I'm leaving for a week in Mexico that was planned and paid for way before all this just going to suck it up😳. But will nice to spend some time with kids that are off for thankgiving week from college! Hope you have a good week and hoping for less pain for you! I will check in with you when I get back😊

I hope you had a nice trip! I am 1-week postop capsular release now. I stopped pain killers after four days but started again on day 7 as I was finding too much pain after therapy sessions. I can get my arm out about 10-15 deg actively and 35or so passively by the therapist but it hurts pretty badly! I have improvements in other ways like full 180 abduction and full forward flexion. It still hurts to get my arms behind my head. I am stretching about every 2.5-3 hours. Seeing my surgeon on Monday! I'm keeping up hope but it's def less flexible than I had been hoping. 

I hope your progress continues! I'm crazy scared for my upcoming surgery! Hope it's a quick recovery

Hi alison, I am 18-days postop now, and I still don't really have very much external rotation, unfortunately! I had no pain in the first week (although had been taking pain killers)... but in the 2nd week I got a tonne of pain that was waking me up at least once a night. I have been pushing through all the exercises like the pole, etc... and it is extremely painful to push the rotation outwards. I do them about 4 times a day and ice afterwards. I have seen a manual therapist 5 days a week who does deep tissue release and stretching. I feel that I have about 10-15% better rotation than I had prior to the surgery, but certainly not what I was hoping. I saw an osteopath this morning who was trying to figure out where I have the blockage. It seems to be in the posterior capsule (which is where my labrum was torn). It is pretty frustrating. But overall I am doing good surgery-wise. I started driving at 7 days, and I could get my hair into a pony tail around a week or so as well. I have not started strength training yet but try to go to the hot tub and pool every 2nd day. I started running 5km at 1 week also. Now that I am in week 3 the pain seems to be subsiding again. I  have a feeling it is going to be up and down!! I have pretty good forward flexion, full abduction (arm out to the side on teh floor, although a bit of a painful stretch), but only about 20degrees external rotation (and very painful at that). I have pretty good internal rotation, I can reach up past mid-back but it's still not 100%.

How have you been ?

I am at day 6 I have been doing the exercise but I never was able to achieve full rom after surgery despite my effort! I can put my arm over my head laying down but not all the way maybe 6 inches off floor? I can get my arm just across my lower back and yes external is the worst I lay on the floor and try to make the stop position but it's about 8-10 inches from touching ground! I feel better overall like I don't have frozen shoulder! But in worried I didn't get enough movement in the first few days and now it's too late? I am going to my 5th pt apt today they say I'm doing great but I don't think they have any clue! I see a different person everyday so there is no set plan or goals! I feel like I'm missed my window??? Did you feel like you are making progress or losing what you got from surgery? My surgeon was so set that he got full range of motion while I was under and that it was my job to keep it and that's what he told my husband so now I just feel like I failed?

I do not have the strength to life my arms over my heading standing up so I can't do a ponytail! I could probably do one laying down?

I don't think you have lost your window yet. I couldn't raise my arm up over my head for at least a week. The dr said the surgery is like having a hematoma that needs to recede over 4-6 weeks so I think 6 weeks is the real guide. How painful is it for you to try to externally rotate while lying down? And where do you feel pain when you try to do the stop position on the floor? I.e, external rotation in abduction. When I do this my arm is 6 inches off the floor and making no real improvement. I feel intense pain at the back /side I.e posterior shoulder capsule. I am very frustrated. I think I may have something else going on than adhesive capsulitis