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Hi looking for advice

Posted , 6 users are following.

stella64
stella64

Back In March of this year I started having shoulder pain and it got worse by the end of July I decided to go to the Dr's so they send me to a orthopedics Dr and I found out I had frozen shoulder.I have had 2 cortisone shots within 2 months time then send me to a physical therapist to have exercise to get range of motion back in my left shoulder. I have some range of motion and I did some putting my left arm behind my back which the day I went to the physical therapist seem to do ok. They gave me a paper to take home to do exercise at home but the next day after the exercise my shoulder was really hurting and the pain went down my arm so that day after I started to do home exercise and I couldn't do any cause I got bad pains in my shoulder and bad shooting pains down my arm. Was wondering if anyone has experienced that or could there be something else going on. Any advice would be apreciated. Thank you

0 likes, 22 replies

22 Replies

  • christina35172
    christina35172 stella64

    Posted

    Your situation is very similar to mine.  I have tried very hard to find a balance in physical therapy.  If I push too hard I get unbearable pain.  But I feel like not doing any physical therapy would be detrimental, and I would lose more range of motion.  Pay attention to your body.  It will tell you if you are pushing it to much.  Hang in there!!
  • christina35172
    christina35172 stella64

    Posted

    Also, do you take an anti immflamatory?  I take meloxicam 15 mg once a day and it makes the pain more bearable.
    • stella64
      stella64 christina35172

      Posted

      Yes they gave me 2 cortisone shots. It helps a bit but I still have some pain. I also have partial tear in rotator cuff to so it's hard to tell what pain is from.

  • bobbysgirl
    bobbysgirl stella64

    Posted

    I am in a similar situation too - misery isn't it!

    I am STILL waiting to see an Orthopedic surgeon, but I am not holding my breath that he can do anything, (my faith in conventional medicine has been clobbered recently)

    I went to an NHS Physio and like you got an A4 sheet of exercises. I saved up and went to see a private Physio and the difference was amazing.

    Following a flare up in the other shoulder I'm booked in with her next week. Pricey but worth it.

    What can you do for yourself? I find a rub of frankincense and ginger oils (best quality) in an almond carrier oil to be very warming and soothing - smells nice too.

    • richard43586
      richard43586 bobbysgirl

      Posted

      Hi.  How long have you been waiting to see the surgeon?  I was referred to the Ortho clinic at my local hospital about 2 months ago, and by chance they were looking for volunteers for a trial they are running to find the 'best' treatment for FS.  I am now booking in for capsular release surgery in about a fortnight, so things are happening quite quickly.  The surgery will be followed up by NHS physio, so it will be interesting how effective / painful that will be.

    • bobbysgirl
      bobbysgirl richard43586

      Posted

      I was 'referred' back in March and am STILL waiting for an appointment!rolleyes

    • richard43586
      richard43586 bobbysgirl

      Posted

      Wow!  Sorry to hear that.  6 months and counting is not good.  It seems to be a bit of a 'postcode lottery' in the NHS.

    • bobbysgirl
      bobbysgirl richard43586

      Posted

      Yes, when we first moved to NI we were amazed how good the health service was. But it would seem they bust their budget on our new hospital. Lovely building, just no doctors!
    • stella64
      stella64 bobbysgirl

      Posted

      I also have other things going on with left shoulder besides it being frozen shoulder. I have a Rotator cuff partial tear so I still have some pain where I notice that if I sleep on left shoulder bothers me alot and have pain from that. Also I notice is that if I put left arm behind my back to much cause I can't put it all the way behind that I start to get blurred vision and it will last about a minute. Does anyone have that issue cause I am trying to find out why it's happening. I can't see the orthopedics until the 6th of October and I bang my shoulder against a chair and had pain and then the next thing I knew I started seeing blurred vision again.any replys would be great apreciated. Thank you

  • richard43586
    richard43586 stella64

    Posted

    I think Christina's reply is good advice.  Don't push your exercises too hard.  I'm afraid that the shooting pains down the arm are one of the symptoms of FS; painful, but normal!  I have FS but very rarely have pain in my actual shoulder area; it is more usually in my upper arm, followed by elbow, lower arm, hand and evenmiddle finger when it was at its worst.  I have done few exercises and think I have now reached the 'frozen' stage.  

    • karenus
      karenus richard43586

      Posted

      Richard...you are so right! The way you describe the pain is the same as how mine presents. 
  • karenus
    karenus stella64

    Posted

    Ask your PT about this. My PT has given me exercises and was very specific about exercises and intensity. For example, he said hold an exercise (supported arm stretch over the head for example). It should be a bit uncomfortable, as you want to stretch it, but if after holding it for 20 seconds, any pain should go away in 5-10 seconds. If pain after a stretch is longer or more intense, then you are doing too much and simply aggravating/adding to inflammation. In other words it is a fine line to walk....stretch the shoulder but without adding inflammation. He recommended icing the shoulder after doing the PT exercises too. That's just what I have been told so far....I'm no expert, but hope that helps some.

     

  • kim90386
    kim90386 stella64

    Posted

    hi stella just new to this too....i had a small tear in my rotator cuff and was very painful so i babied my arm and it turned into a fs....so depressing with the constant pain.. this started in april...did your cortisone shots help...i go on tuesday for mine...not looking forward to it but i sooo help it relieves the pain....i have been going to physio since april but i dont think they realized it was freezing up...grrr i dont know if they could have stopped the process....in ontario i dont think they mua until its your last resort...good luck and any advice from anyone would be so appreciate...thanks in advance!
    • stella64
      stella64 kim90386

      Posted

      I had 2 cortisone shots in 3 months.I believe it helped a little bit. I just got done with pysical therapy have some range of motion but not complete. I still get some pain everytime I do some exercise with putting my arm behind my back. I have to wait until Oct 6 to see my orthopedics Dr to see if I still need more pysical therapy.
  • Dee1963
    Dee1963 stella64

    Posted

    Look up Adam Meakins FS let it go on google there is one exercise which I've heard has helped, I'm going to try it even though I've had capsule release surgery I'll try anything to get my shoulder sorted and I find physiotherapy a waste of time

    • karenus
      karenus Dee1963

      Posted

      I looked up Adam M....what exercise are you referring to?
    • Dee1963
      Dee1963 karenus

      Posted

      Did you look up the age which says let it go, if you read the page in the middle there is an exercise of a person lying down with a light weight in his hand
    • Dee1963
      Dee1963

      Posted

      I tried to paste the link but it won't let me publish it here

    • karenus
      karenus Dee1963

      Posted

      Thanks. I don't think they let you post links to sites here. I will look again. When I looked at the site briefly, I do agree with his ideas of less is more and it is what my PT recommends too....movement and stretch but just enough so that it doesn't add to inflammation.

    • bobbysgirl
      bobbysgirl Dee1963

      Posted

      Try sending a PM by clicking on the envelope on the left.
    • Dee1963
      Dee1963 karenus

      Posted

      I've sent you a Pm, also google Ortho Washington frozen shoulder exercises and scroll down past the pictures and there is a video showing 7 exercises there great, I couldn't do two because of some pain but the others are making a difference

    • stella64
      stella64 Dee1963

      Posted

      Thank you for responding. I have alot of range motion back but putting my arm behind my back is a issue and it hurts bad plus I notice I get blurred vision if I do to much. I have to see my orthopedics on Oct 6th to find out why I get blurred vision from doing that plus I bang my shoulder off a chair and had alot of pain and within a minute I got blurred vision it felt weard and last about a minute. Thank you
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