1. Community
  2. Bones, joints and muscles
  3. Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder - choices of treatment

Posted , 53 users are following.

jillgrace
jillgrace

I first noticed the symptoms of FS about 4 months ago - it seemed to come out of the blue for no reason at all. Just as mystifying was what should I do about it - do I go to a physio, GP, acupuncturist, osteopath, chiropractor - or am I better off doing nothing at all?!!

After doing some research, I decided my best course of action would be to go to an osteopath. However, what I would advise other sufferers is to be aware that this can be a very, very long process and can end up costing you a fortune!!

They gave me twice-weekly appointments at the beginning which I didn't mind paying for as I wanted to get myself cured as soon as possible.

The appointments involved gentle manipulation and she would give me exercises to do at home. My arm is gradually getting some small amount of movement back (although my practititioner did say that this was largely due to my hard work at sticking to the exercises) and the pain has diminished (although from what I understand this is part of the disease process and is probably nothing to do with the osteopath!)

In retrospect, I am glad that I sought treatment with an osteopath, but in my naivety I had not realised what a long process it would be and how much it would cost. I am still going to sessions but, at my request, I have staggered the appointments so that they are further apart.

I am now getting pains in the other side and unless I win the lottery, I feel that I couldn't possibly afford to go through it all again!!

2 likes, 221 replies

221 Replies

Prev Next
  • HeatherL
    HeatherL jillgrace

    Posted

    I did chiro care on my left shoulder and did draw the doctor's attention to the OTZ method, which he tried... and unfortunately had no success or change from it.  However, what I have learned is that nothing works for everyone and some has successes that others don't... so keep trying as long as it doesn't make the pain worsen.
    • daniel2014
      daniel2014 HeatherL

      Posted

      The most significant aspect with chiropractic care is the variance in manual dexterity found between doctors, unlike physical therapy or physicians, manual dexterity plays an extremely important role in delivering a corrective force into the body.  I have been through 3 associates, all very diligent, intelligent and capable.  The reality is that none had the same results as I with neck and back issues; so, it seems probable that the same issue exists with OTZ adjustments.  As I mentioned above, the doctor who "discovered" OTZ has many successes treating patients diagnosed with frozen shoulder.  All chiropractors are not created equal, unfortunately.

      And you're correct, only an examination and attempt at treatment can show if the process will be successful.  As OTZ introduces no force into the shouder itself, there is nothing to lose by trying as it certainly won't make it worse, in my limited experience so far.

  • john84242
    john84242 jillgrace

    Posted

    I Have suffered from frozen shoulder for the past 18 months, only fellow sufferers will know the pain and sleepness nights. I was given an injection by gp, painkillers, physiotherapy to no avail. Last option was MUA , I went into hospital for a few hours on Thursday last week it's now Sunday and I can't believe the difference , my shoulder and arm are almost pain free, also had two good night's sleep that alone makes you feel better. All I can say is if given this option take it you have nothing to lose.

  • terry96519
    terry96519 jillgrace

    Posted

    I had shoulder surgery in December 2012 to repair a humerus fracture. After 5 months of physical therapy I was able to lift my shoulder only 100 degrees out of 180 degrees from the grounds up. I did stretching exercises at home for another 5 months and I was able to move my shoulder another 10 degrees up. After that it just stopped moving. After complaining the lack of range of motion, pain and the discomfort of inflammation to my doctor, he started on giving me cortisone injections. Six months had passed by with 3 cortisone injections and I did not have any improvements with the range of motion, even though I kept doing daily stretching exercises nonstop. Finally my doctor ordered a MRI and he performed an Arthroscopic surgery to clean and remove some of the scar tissues. I started on physical therapy right after the surgery and have been doing the stretching exercises daily. It has been 5 weeks since the surgery and I do not feel any difference so far. My physical therapist says there are no guarantees. I still cannot touch my head with my arm with the injured shoulder. I am taking pain killers twice a day when I do stretching exercises at home to ease the pain.  I got a second opinion from another physical therapist and she says I might need physical therapy for another year to treat this chronic condition. My doctor wants to give me another cortisone injection, which I am not in favor of. Does anyone have any similar experiences? I am very frustrated with the entire situation since the Arthroscopic surgery did not help me much.  Thank you.  
    • james80413
      james80413 terry96519

      Posted

      Terry, this seems worse than a frozen shoulder. They eventually get better often inspite of the treatment. Tell us more, was the bone displaced and was the fracture below the head of the humerus. Was it pinned or plated or reduced without any hardware? Where is the scar? What were the exercise? What stops your movement, a bone hitting bone feeling, pain before there is tissue tension or can you stretch the shoulder tissues quite well before the pain comes. I wonder how much movement comes truly from the shoulder joint and how much comes from the scapula swinging round the chest wall and compensating. Have someone watch you shoulder blades when raising your arms to the side and compare. Let us try something, in fact everyone with glenohumeral joint problems should try this. Do it with the opposite arm first to get the feel of it. In sitting place  your wrist between your knees and grip tight and then lean your body back with the arm relaxed. If you or your  partner can put their fingers over the tip of the shoulder with fingers on the head of the humerus you will feel, with a bit of practice the head of the humerus slide down in it's socket.  Do the same to the painful joint and compare the feeling of movement and the sensation of joint glide. Now this joint glide must become present before active movement takes place. I can talk from several experiences.

      Anyone interested should search COURSERA and find out when the next anatomy course is for the shoulder.

    • naida45292
      naida45292 james80413

      Posted

      Excellent description of the head of bone dropping in its socket. And 

      Description  of  shoulder blade doing work it shouldn't.   After open shoulder surgery in Jan. repairing and screwing to bone 2 tendons and bone spur removal

      I didn't do PT consistently till 1 month later.  Then all stretching exercises and hard work I did - pulled scapula out of place and created painful miserable situation.  5 mths after 1st surgery - had arthroscopic scar tissue removal and double manipulation under anesthesia .  Doc. Said it was worst scarred down shoulder her ever scene (finally won something).  Now doing PT with orthopedic specialist - who manipulates joint for 30 - 40 mins.  3 wks into it. She can get 

      Pretty decent ROM  but  I still can't lift past shoulder height.  I figure it will be a year of just building strength as I go.  I have wanted to die the last 6 months for

      The nearly unendurable pain.  No sleep, PT horrible - but - now know - must

      Keep shoulder blade in place and let bone sink into its socket - so it doesn't scar

      Up in wrong position. Very important.  Otherwise - your just building painful muscle imbalance.  God bless all on here who are struggling with crushin pain.  

    • terry96519
      terry96519 james80413

      Posted

      Thank you for your response James. Yes the shoulder was dislocated and the fracture was on the head of the humerus. They called the surgery “Open reduction and internal fixation of the greater tuberosity using a transosseous-equivalent technique”. I believe the surgeon used Corkscrew Anchors. Here are some of the exercises I am doing. Shoulder flexion, internal rotation, shoulder horizontal adduction, pectoral stretch, scapular retraction, supine shoulder flexion, shoulder flexion at wall.

      After the recent Arthroscopic surgery, passive range of motion got little better. But the active range of motion is not improving so far. I looked at the mirror while moving my both shoulders one at the time. Yes I see the swinging scapula with injured shoulder. I showed that to the surgeon too. I will be seeing him in a week again. I will try your suggestion as to the exercise you described. I appreciate all the comments from the others as well. We all need to get better and enjoy our daily lives. I will let you know the results of the exercise. Thanks again.        

  • rene85570
    rene85570 jillgrace

    Posted

    I had a frozen shoulder for about 5 months, the last month was really bad couldn't sleep anymore took stronger and stronger pain killers like Tramadol and in the last week I needed to take 3 of them to get to sleep my arm rotation was locked at 80 degrees max. And looking at the side effects of the pain killers I didn't want to keep taking all that stuff anymore and started looking for a solution other than MUA or an operation. And I found one! I found the trigenics website http://www.frozenshoulder.eu and I was very skeptical about it. They claim to cure a frozen shoulder in one visit without side effects! The pain was so bad that I took a leap of faith and called them to make and appointment and a week later I already could go to Estonia their EU clinic. They gave me a pain killer and a local anesthetic in my shoulder and started the treatment, 1 min after the procedure my rotation was back to 180 degrees! I could not believe it! So long in pain and he fixed it in literary one minute! 2 days later I stopped all pain medication, now it's almost one week ago and I am so happy no more pain at night and my full rotation back. I really hope this can help some other people suffering from the horrible Frozen Shoulder.
    • chlomckenzie123
      chlomckenzie123 rene85570

      Posted

      Hi! I've been looking at this comment for a while now and decided to try and research anything and everything i possibly could regarding 'cures' for frozen shoulder on behalf of my mum. Spent a lot of time trying to find more information about Dr Allan Oolo Austin however not really finding much. Also tried to ring the London number on the trigenics webpage however it's not working whatsoever. What did you do to get started on the whole trigenics procedure? How are you now? Is it still 'cured'? Any and all comments back would be massively appreciated.. and MUCH needed. 

      Thanks in advance! - Chloe.

    • alison44235
      alison44235 rene85570

      Posted

      How much did it cost you? I asked them the question and they did not get back to me.

      Where do you live?

  • antnee
    antnee jillgrace

    Posted

    I Live in America and I to suffer from frozen shoulder,  but mine is from Rotator cuff surgery.  

    I'm doing physical therapy but I'm not having any real success.  I am a man of God and believe that he heal me.

    I'm not ever going to give up.

    Last year I died and was resurrected so I'm a firm believer that it is His will and not mine.

    I like the swimming therapy idea though. 

    Blessings to everyone suffering from anything in their body that is frozen. I am Praying for you as I speak.

    Sincerely, Chaplain Anthony

     

    • james80413
      james80413 antnee

      Posted

      Dear Reverant Anthony, firstly frozen shoulders are not caused by surgery, they run in families and are most probably genetic. Unfortunately it seems any stiff or painfull shoulder that lasts for more than a short period of time is diagnosed as such. Even stiff hips are being diagnosed as frozen. Tell us about your operation, why you had it, how long ago since the operation and your age. Better tell us what treatments you have been having and about the pain intensity.

      James

    • Oliveria
      Oliveria james80413

      Posted

      James, with all my respect once again. Do not give your opinions as if you have the knowledge and the correct answers. 

      Not even the best doctors with high credentials can give a 100 % accurate advice.

    • emilybonbon
      emilybonbon james80413

      Posted

      Sorry to use such harsh language, James, but your response is absolute hogswash and rubbish.  Frozen shoulders are NOT genetic, they do NOT run in families.  If nobody in my family had ever even HEARD of frozen shoulder, let alone having HAD one, where did mine come from then?  Unfortunately it can happen to anyone, I know in my case maybe a minor, minor shoulder injury that I wasn't really aware of, something that caused some minor pain - that caused swelling and scar tissue and if I'd been smart and kept moving my arm and shoulder instead of babying it and resting it (resting it is when it froze), it may have been painful but I don't think it would have frozen.  It's not genetic, it doesn't run in families.  That's all I have to say.
    • Oliveria
      Oliveria emilybonbon

      Posted

      Totally agree with you emily. I would love to see the journal or cientific evidence where it says is genetic. I also believe can be caused by anything that made you immobilize your shoulder, injury, surgery, cast, etc....

      Thanks emily

    • james80413
      james80413 emilybonbon

      Posted

      hi emily and nicoryan,

      As you say you were sorry you had to use such harsh language regarding my last statements and that my writings were hogwash and rubbish. You must have some some knowledge of genetics and traits that are unknown to me. I must say that I am an autodidact when it comes to such medical matters. I rely on the most up to date publications from the most prestigious medical clinics and know where to find such peer reviewed papers. A great deal is made of minor shoulder injuries causing FS, of being a diabetic or the many glandular conditions or surgery. Almost forgot, immobilizatiom. If any of these conditions caused a FZ then any age group would be in danger not just 40 to 60.

      Google the following: orthopaedic Proceedings natural history and genetics of frozen shoulder. A 1 to 20 followup of 20 patients, GCR Hand

      AJ Carr.

      Try Wiley on Library: Shoulder Elbow Chromosomal abnormalities in frozen shoulder. There are many more to find.

      The commonest "Red Herring" re FS is diabetes which can look like a frozen shoulder but is in fact seems to be a condition which affects the shoulder, elbow and hand and I suspect will only improve somewhat with improvement of the diabetes.

      The frozen shoulder will recover nearly always fully. If it does not then there may be some othe undiagnosed compnent in the shoulder.

      James

    • Oliveria
      Oliveria james80413

      Posted

      Once again and with all my respect.  I think, instead of helping people with your diagnosis (without the pacient presence) you confuse them. 

      Please, do not be so assertive. People may think you are right and you may not.

      Thanks

    • james80413
      james80413 Oliveria

      Posted

      Let me get this in perspective, you wrote," Totally agree with you emily, I would love to see the journal or scientific evidence where it says is genetic. I also believe can be caused by anything that made you immobilize your shoulder, injury, surgery, cast etc."

      You have made no mention of the modern scientific articles I suggested you read supporting up to date medical views. Neither have you suggested any evidence supporting your own opinion or way of thinking.

      May I add, how can you confuse people with, as you requested the scientific evidence. Of course it is your prerogative to propose these articles I suggested are Hogswash and Rubbish, so let us all know.

      With all my respect, once again.

    • antnee
      antnee james80413

      Posted

      Dear James,

      I'm the first one in my family to get frozen shoulder. Therapy can't get it to move properly.  What about deep Massage therapy and physical therapy combined?  

      Other wise it would be manipulation surgery. 

      Sincerely Anthony

    • james80413
      james80413 antnee

      Posted

      Anthony,Firstly read again my script, most likely on this same page to daniel dated 28 May 2014 particularly the advice on the capsular pattern.

      Oh the enigma of the frozen shoulder!

      It seems that general practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors and any other body workers seem to think that any painful shoulder that has lost range is a frozen shoulder. Many patients on this web site are too old or to young to have FS or it heals too quickly or takes too long. Many may have lost range because of pain and presume that that they have truly lost joint movement. If you don't have a frozen shoulder and you are treated for such you are having the wrong treatment. On the other hand many with a FS are stll having the incorrect treatment such as stetching and exercise. I think that joint play correction is the way to begin with any capsular restriction with any joint which has lost its pattern of movement. Joint play I have found out is the movements that take place in a joint and are the movements that no one can voluntarily. For instance if you pull on your fingers and separate a joint

      or if you take an almost straight finger and bend it to the side these are joint play move ments. If these movements are unable to be performed then active movements will be restricted. Therefore it would seem sensible to restore thse movements first before exercises or stretching. It makes me cringe when I read of the pain inflicted on patients, all it is doing is inflicting move tears of the capsule and thus more pain.

      Here are some web sites to read

      concerning the anatomy and restoration of movement I have found on the web.

      " joint play the right way for the peripheral skeleton. mike dixon".

      "Joint Movement, mailland versus kaltenborn"

      "Mulligan nags and snags"

      Go to youtube "glenohumeral mobilization tsudptil chad schneider"

      Find a therapist who knows these things, in UK find chartered society, local therapist manual therapy qualified. Canada America

Back to top
Prev Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.