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I've been reading a lot of material lately about people living with frozen shoulder, so I thought I'd contribute too. I am 50, male and am going through my second round with this condition. I also have type 1 diabetes. The first time I got it was about 5 years ago in my dominant left side. I was watching the Super Bowl and threw my arm up in the air in celebration of a play I liked. I thought I ripped my rotator cuff by the way it felt. I can describe the sudden pain as taking a hard "nut shot" or maybe a "Charlie horse", but in the shoulder. I didn't go to the hospital because the pain went away after about 10 minutes, and I felt OK. As the year progressed into Summer similar incidents kept happening, and pretty soon I couldn't even put on a coat. In San Francisco we wear coats in Summer. I finally went to the doctor, got the usual tests done, and got my diagnosis. I was told it would take about 18 months to get over, but normalcy would return. Well, normalcy did return, but it took about 3 years. I chose not to receive any cortisone shots because many have reported no improvement, and cortisone tends to mess with blood sugar levels. I went to PT weekly, but it only made me realize how slowly this thing progresses. I was so frustrated with this thing I misused the TENS unit I was given by placing the pads directly over the capsule and cranking it up high. My rational was that I could blast this thing right out of my shoulder. Well, it didn't work, and was probably the reason it took so long to heal. I don't recommend doing that! After about 2 1/2 years I went back to the doctor to push for a MUA procedure. He was reluctant, and said "give it 3 more months" and if still no progress the procedure would be done. After almost exactly 3 months went by I finally started noticing significant progress. The surgeon was spot on, and soon I had full ROM. My left shoulder still feels great, but it pops and cracks a lot. I believe this is scar tissue that continues to break up. I now have had it in my right shoulder for about 10 months now. No tests needed for this episode, I knew it was coming months before I felt any pain. I'm handling this go round a lot differently than my left shoulder. I think I can beat this one in about 18 months, as I know exactly what I'm up against. This stint doesn't hurt any less, but experience gives me a huge edge, and it is extremely rare for frozen shoulder to reoccur in the same shoulder. That is something to look forward to!
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claire92024 midonda
Posted
I find it frustrating beyond belief and feel that someone somewhere will eventually find out the causes and cures, perhaps not intime for us though. I too wonder if my other shoulder is going down the same route. I wake up with it sore and it often aches, I truly hope not, but wisdom is a wonderful thing to have if it does happen.
Your post was interesting and good to read.THank you. Claire
alison44235 claire92024
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midonda alison44235
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midonda claire92024
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karen25221 midonda
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Th0mkat midonda
Posted
This time around, I'm not sure which route I will go. I'm not as panicked this time, since I know that it will eventually heal. However, the pain and sleepless nights are getting old. I started noticing the symptoms about 3 months ago but the worst pain has been in the past 2-3 weeks, making me believe I will likely have several more months of misery if I decide to let it run its natural course.
Thanks again to everyone for sharing your experiences, it truly helps!
midonda Th0mkat
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