Does it thaw spontaneously or with exercise?
Posted , 9 users are following.
For those who eventually decided to just leave their shoulder alone and give it time, did your shoulder just start to loosen up on its own or were you doing range of motion exercises all along? I'm in the frozen stage, and every time I start with gentle exercises, the shoulder will become more sore after few days and it doesn't seem to help my range of motion (if anything it stiffens up more) so then I just leave it be for awhile. But I don't want to hold off on exercise too long if that's going to get the motion back. I do use it as able throughout the day. Thanks.
0 likes, 16 replies
cindy_45475 m.44051
Posted
Hi. I have had FS in both shoulders. with the first I tried EVERYTHING to try and get rid of the awful pain and speed up.the process. With the second I let nature take its course and just managed the pain with no physical intervention. Both shoulders took a full year to get from freezing to thawed. it is my belief that there is a set process that cannot be altered or sped up. I have full range of movement back in both.
m.44051 cindy_45475
Posted
Hi Cindy, Wow! Glad to hear you got full motion back in both, that's awesome! Did you do range of motion exercises at all with your second FS? I currently have one frozen and the other is freezing. Thanks!
cindy_45475 m.44051
Posted
once i was pain free yes i did. i remember making a mark on the wall and walking my hands up it to touch the line ; I always felt amazed that I could overshoot the original mark, I was always careful and never over did it for fear of a set back. Do you feel you have managed the 2nd one differently? such an awful debilitating condition!! wishing you a quick recovery.
m.44051 cindy_45475
Posted
Thanks for the response! I've got both shoulders at the same time, one is frozen and the other is freezing...ugh!
socmoe m.44051
Posted
I literally stop doing everything and I just iced and heated it for Comfort it took a few months before I could do gentle stretches . I really think I did way too much before.. 4 months of intense Physical Therapy that literally brought tears to my eyes I really think it made it worse. I only started to get better when I left it alone and let it heal naturally.
m.44051 socmoe
Posted
Hi Socmoe, Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. Did you find that you had to restrict your daily activities (cleaning, shopping, etc) and work to let it heal?
taffypot m.44051
Posted
I kept running, so swinging action but didn't do any exercise that meant raising arms, 1 year on pain gone and movement nearly back.. just sports bra is difficult to put on!
m.44051 taffypot
Posted
Hi Taffpot, Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I haven't been able to do brisk walks/or runs yet as that seems to aggravate shoulder, but I've been using stationary bike and I think the aerobic exercise helps. I always feel better after and maybe it's my imagination, but it seems I can move a bit more comfortably afterwards.
MomGoneMad m.44051
Posted
I can second what Cindy said. I had FS on my right side June 17' to June 18'. My left side started freezing two months later in August 18', so I'm 9 months in to the second one. I did absolutely everything with the first one to try and get it to heal, and it still took a solid year. With this one I've just gotten massage with heat every week, which has helped with the pain. Just starting to slooooowly unfreeze in the last few weeks. I imagine in a few months it will be almost healed. Just like the first, its going to take a year. Its a crappy condition. And, no one understands the pain unless they've been through it. But, it does eventually go away. It just seems like forever. Stay strong. 😃
m.44051 MomGoneMad
Posted
Hi MomGoneMad,
Thanks for sharing your experiences! Did you do any shoulder exercises towards the end? How did you know it was thawing? Thanks
MomGoneMad m.44051
Posted
I wasn't going to a PT or anything like that. But, I did try and stretch it in the shower; the heat seams to help a bit. I would also stretch it in a doorway every day. This was once the pain had subsided though. Didn't try it when I was frozen - way too much pain. On my left shoulder, I could tell it was thawing because I started being able to do things that didn't cause excruciating pain any longer. But, it's really so subtle that you will question yourself. Opening the car door, shaving my underarm, getting dressed was not as painful, etc. Once in a while I could actually hear an adhesion popping. My husband even heard a few. Not sure if anyone else experienced this, but it was thrilling. Lol. I haven't experienced that with the left shoulder yet, but the pain has subsided a little so I'm pretty sure its thawing.
I really don't think anything helps. I had a $500 cortisone shot on the first FS, and it did nothing. I did acupuncture, cupping, chiropractic, massage, and prolozone shots. Nothing seemed to help. That's why I decided to take a wait and see approach on this one. Hearing how much pain people were in doing PT was not an option for me; I just couldn't handle it. And, the worst is it didn't seem to help. I could understand if it cured it sooner, but I just didn't find that from the posts.
Oh, and lidocaine patches seemed to help during the worst part - the first 6 months when it was throbbing all the way down my arm. OMG what a horrible two years its been. Hopefully I will be one and done on each shoulder for the rest of my life.
So much fun getting older isn't it?
Good luck!
m.44051 MomGoneMad
Posted
Hi MomGoneMad,
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences, it is so helpful as the medical community is stumped on this one. Boy, you just got over one and then the other one started! At least, you will get it over with!
I was wondering, have you noticed if your daily activities (just making it through the day, work) has an impact on the rate of recovery? In my experience, it seems rest helps, and activity (sometimes even simple stuff) can increase soreness/pain and also cause the shoulder to stiffen up more. I'm just starting to ease back to work and am a bit nervous it might cause me to lose ground or lengthen the recovery. Thanks!
Hoosier m.44051
Posted
You can find evidence to support both active exercise and "monitored neglect".But in the end, do what you feel is best, because it lasts the same no matter what you do. What worked for me was a combination of "hey, that seriously hurts -- don't do that", and "hey, look what I can do today that I couldn't do yesterday -- let's see if I can push it a little."
I'm in the freezing stage of my second FS, and I'm not pushing it until I reach the frozen stage. I got a cortisone shot early this time, and while it has really helped with the inflammatory pain, the process is marching steadily along the same course as last time. ( I know that the cortisone shot doesn't work for everyone. )
I regained full ROM from my first FS.I did go to a few sessions of PT, but I found that I could find the tight areas myself, and would just niggle them out while doing chores or activities.
Find what works best for you, but just don't OVER do it. There is evidence to support that you can aggravate it. And who wants this to last any longer than it has to?
m.44051 Hoosier
Posted
Hi Hoosier, Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm so glad I found this forum. It's good to hear from people who made it through!
Hoosier m.44051
Posted
I still have my bad days, that's for sure.But you're right -- it is good to commiserate with others and share experiences. It will get better. How far along are you into the frozen stage? You should be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel soon.