frozen sholder

Has anyone else had time off work for FS ? I feel guilty not being at work as people seem to think it's an excuse for not working because they can't see the discomfort  and pain or know how hard it is to get a nights sleep. I can use my arm to a certain degree in front of me but as you all know the ROM makes the simplest task difficult.

I've had FS since Sept 2016 (yes, 18 months!!).  I'm in the frozen stage.  The freezing stage is the worst as far as pain.  At times I was brought to my knees it hurt so bad.  I was using ice until my doctor, shoulder expert, said to stay away from ice and use heat only.  I use heat when in pain and it takes away the pain.  I also get weekly massages, and massage my shoulder in between with a tennis ball against the wall.  I find that movement, massage and heat take away the bad pain.  I'll use OTC meds, but haven't needed anything stronger.  I've also had acupuncture, which took away all of the pain and gave me more mobility, but unfortunately these benefits lasted just a couple of hours after the appointment.  Hang in there.  It's a long road, but there is an end.

My acupuncturist diagnosed my frozen shoulder, in both, Dec 17. He thought I was in freezing stage and with work could skip frozen and go straight to thawing. When he said 'this could take a while', I was thinking couple of weeks but after looking it up and having a read 'take a while' took on a whole new meaning, couple of years more like if you go through the whole trip. I went to the doctor for a scan and yeah, frozen shoulder in both. I stuck with my acupuncturist once  week and added a massage once a week too. The doctor was  not much help. The proliferation of 'opioid addiction' means getting strong pain meds from the doc was like pulling teeth and with such a lengthy disease, addiction was a scary proposition, so I only take them twice a week as a treat. The rest of the week I use Mersyndol Nights. They make me sleepy and take the edge off the pain. The doctors offered me an anti depressent that also happened to work on nerve pain, but im not depressed and I know from family and friend experience anti depressents have strong side effects and are hard to come off. I said no thanks. I also got offered an anti seizure medication that happened to work on nerve pain. I didn't want to take that either. My treatment is coming along and I have gone from freezing to thawing...thank God. I do all the exercises my acupuncturist recommends and my range of motion is getting better. I still need help washing but can now put my own deodorant on. No chance of an armpit wax yet haha. My favorite and most effective exercise for relief is sit ups. Don't laugh, I don't know why but I think it has something to do with stretching my arms toward my feet. It somehow stretches out my shoulder blades and allows, after a few of them, to lay flat on the ground with my arms also laying flat on the ground. They are so helpful I do 15 to 20 two or three times a day. I was trying to lay flat on the ground and relax my body out but man was it painful. I just couldn't lay my arms down flat. After finding a comfortable position for my arms on my chest, I thought I may as well do something positive and did a sit up. Slowly stretching my arms out toward my feet and bending them into my chest on the way down. After a few I noticed I was able to lay my shoulders further down on the ground. So now when I do them, I still bend my arms in as I go down but after a few i can open my arms out and lay them flat. When I stretch toward my feet, I gently hold the stretch for 10 seconds and feel the muscles between my shoulder blades stretching. I also noticed my shoulder blades sitting flatter when I lay back down. I've had two kids, my stomach muscles are weak and I cant touch my toes, ankles but not toes, but man the relief is worth it, especially in the morning when I feel like i'm in a vice and before bed so I can lay more comfortable on my back. I still need a pillow under both my forearms but my shoulders are laying pain free. My acupuncturist thinks Ill be pain free in a couple of months and Im clinging on to that hope. Honestly, I couldn't believe it when I found out how long this takes, and the lack of quality painkillers that aren't addictive long term, and this is long term. Good luck avril, this too shall pass.