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Will Physical Therapy "fix" my frozen shoulder?

Posted , 9 users are following.

gretchen70007
gretchen70007

So- question for everyone! My pain started about 4 months ago. My ortho gave me an injection 2 weeks ago which unfortunately did nothing  sad He prescribed physical therapy twice a week which I've been doing. Seeing a little improvement in range of motion from the ( incredibly painful) manipulations, but my pain has stayed about the same. My concern is that my insurance only allows 15 PT visits a year, and by the time I go back to my ortho I will only have 5 left! If the PT helps , but then I have to stop will I regress or will the "fix" be permanent? And I'm guessing that may not be an answerable question?! I'm SO afraid that I'll use all my PT visits, I will still have pain and my doctor will recommend surgery and I won't have any after -surgery PT visits available. Thoughts???

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • karenmarie
    karenmarie gretchen70007

    Posted

    Sorry to hear about your pain. Sadly PT did nothing for my shoulder pre surgery, I had surgery in the end followed by PT. I needed about 5 sessions.I went from excruciating pain to a dull ache I can deal with after surgery. I hope this helps and I wish you lots of luck x
  • gretchen70007
    gretchen70007

    Posted

    Thank you for your input Karen- unfortunately your experience is kind of what I'm thinking too. I had a frozen hip a few years ago and I ended up running out of PT visits and then having surgery and we had to pay for PT out of pocket. So frustrating and no one but me seems to think pro-actively! I'm glad to hear you've had relief after surgery smile
    • Debbie1212
      Debbie1212 gretchen70007

      Posted

      Gretchen my fs is about 5 months and the drop to yr knees pain has stopped its just the all day aching now. I have pt sessions once a week after my 2nd steroid injection which took a couple of weeks to work. My forward movement us a lot better with pt. Im waiting for hydrodilitation in another couple of months and until then will have pt once a week. Im secretly hoping the pt will suddenly break the frozen bones! But in reality i know it wont. So why not drop yr pt to once a week for now. What surgery are they offering? By the way get some good painkillers tjey do help to give you a few hours sleep at night. X
  • jiminpain
    jiminpain gretchen70007

    Posted

    i had p/t for three months and it was of no use , i have had f/s in both shoulders and physio didnt work on either , maybe in your case it will work , best try and be positive i think.
  • mymaude
    mymaude gretchen70007

    Posted

    Hi Gretchen. So sorry to hear you are suffering. My ortho told me that I should not have physio during the freezing stage as it would aggravate it and make it worse. PT was only carried out in the frozen or thawing stages or after a procedure. I was encouraged, however, to use it as much as the pain would allow and was given pain meds. The physio I did after my procedure was gentle and slow (and bearable) but for some procedures I know it can be more vigorous. My physio stressed I must not push it beyond acceptable pain again because it would serve to aggravate it rather than help it. Hope yours resolves itself soon. Gentle hugs. xx
    • gretchen70007
      gretchen70007 mymaude

      Posted

      This makes so much sense to me!! It just seems so wrong to purposely make it hurt more!! I do think the PT has helped with my range of motion, but I just dread having to go there and be tortured wink My therapist is a nice guy and I call them my torture sessions.....Lol!! Thanks for your input- I'm glad to hear there is hope!
  • tracey74894
    tracey74894 gretchen70007

    Posted

    Hi Gretchen. My consultant and my physio said that physio won't help when the shoulder is at the frozen stage 
  • AntheaS
    AntheaS gretchen70007

    Posted

    Hi Gretchen

    I can honestly not speak for your body, but I can speak for mine and every fibre in me tells me not to muck with this shoulder. To patiently wait for the thawing stage. Once at this stage, I'll go hammer and tongs on the physio. If physio doesn't work, then I'll have to look at other more evasive treatments, but for right now, I'm just patiently waiting. Last night I had the best sleep I've had in 6 months. 11 pm to 4am. Usually I only get about 3 broken ones. I need 10 hours to function normally. So this has been a very difficult time for me. More sleep has made me feel lighter today. Not depressed. The weird thing about this whole FS thing is that just when you think you are getting better and a few days seems great, it hits you with a vengeance. So..I'm going to enjoy the fact that I had the best sleep and not expect the same tomorrow. I too wanted to fix this, like you would any disease. You know...get diagnosed..go for treatment...feel better. But once I accepted this disease (acceptance does not mean like it)it's been so much better. I'm not waiting for the cure. I'm doing my time. It's like I did something bad and now my body is in prison. Like a Body Prison at the Frozen Institute for Women!!! Everyone of us on this forum are our inmates!!! Ha ha ha ha...you see, just 2 hours of extra sleep and I'm hilarious or delirious..not sure which one. Have a great day. ONE ARM Hug xxx

    • gretchen70007
      gretchen70007 AntheaS

      Posted

      Hahaha! It's so TRUE- body prison!! SO awesome that you got a good night's sleep! I think we forget what that's like sometimes smile  What you said makes a lot of sense as far as PT goes, I just can't believe it's beneficial to aggravate the condition when it's painful. I'm still trying to find the best balance of what seems right for my body.     ( and mind!) Thank you for the kind words!
  • Guest
    Guest gretchen70007

    Posted

    Gretchen,

    I am a 50 year old male and I have had frozen shoulder. 

    As a male in the largely female world of Frozen Shoulder I must say that I have been shown the "Cold Shoulder" by many Cold-Hearted Females but I digress...the answer to your question is...

    Yes,  P.T. and "Hanging" and stretching and having PT folks pull the daylights out of your arm will help.

    Hanging from "Monkey Bars" will help to stretch, rip, tear and break those Hellishly wicked "Adhesions" that are holding your capsule and muscles so tightly together.

    You should go to PT 3 Times per week and as my ORTHO SURGEON TOLD ME (cliched or not) "NO PAIN...NO GAIN".

    It HAS TO HURT to work.  Hanging from "Monkey Bars" or Chin Up Bars is a wonderful way to Stretch out those Super Glue Type Adhesions.

    Have a big strong PT person pull and pull and pull on your poor frozen shoulder and help to elongate and stretch out those godawful Adhesions!

    I wish you the best and I hope you recover from your Frozen Shoulder!

     

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