Posted , 2 users are following.
My doctor diagnosed my shoulder injury as frozen shoulder. I went from full range of motion to instant pain & loss of motion within seconds when I fell. People helped me get up off the sidewalk. Everything I read said frozen shoulder happens as a gradual process. Did anyone else have frozen shoulder immediately at the time of injury. X-rays revealed no broken bones. Thank you.
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Daibola Cheerio
Posted
Sorry to hear of your painful injury. Strictly speaking, the term "frozen shoulder" refers to any condition that restricts active or passive glenohumeral motion which could include, for example, bursitis or tendinitis so I suppose that your doctor could be using the term in this more general sense. However, I'm not surprised that you're confused because, most of the time "frozen shoulder" is used to refer to adhesive capsulitis (AC) which involves capsular contractions and/or adhesions and restriction in passive range of motion. That's what we're talking about on this forum and, as you've read, this doesn't happen overnight...it generally progresses very slowly over several weeks, if not months. It would be good if you could get some clarification regarding your diagnosis. Are you seeing an orthopedist? I'm not sure where you live but I'm in the US and was able to shop around until I found a doctor who would actually listen to me (took 3 tries) and take my pain seriously. I hope that's an option for you as well.
Cheerio Daibola
Posted
Thank you very much, Daibola, for your informative response. It was very helpful. I'm glad to read you found a doctor to help you. No, I am not seeing an orthopedist. I went to a regular medical doctor, a general practitioner, who has a diploma in sports medicine. Surprisingly, he can read x-rays and treat patients without waiting for the radiology report. I say "surprisingly" because radiologists here in Canada complete a 3-5 year residency so it's surprising a diploma gives him the qualifications to do this. I asked why he didn't think it was a torn rotator cuff and he said people don't lose range of motion with a torn rotator cuff. I'll keep doing the exercises he recommended & hopefully that will relieve it. The pain has worsened since I started them...all day & night now, even at rest, instead of only when moving. A chiropractor had a gentler set of exercises at YouTube that was considerably less painful & seemed to be helping, although slowly. I'll give the medical doctor's exercises a try for 4 weeks and if I'm still having constant pain at the end of October, then I will switch back to the chiropractor's exercises. Again, thank you for your response.
Cheerio
Posted
Daibola Cheerio
Posted
Whoa…wait a minute. I don't have any thoughts about your doctor's ability to read an x-ray (a rotator cuff tear won't show up on an x-ray in any case) but for him to say that a rotator cuff tear doesn’t result in a loss of range-of-motion is simply not true. I don’t know what, if any, harm could result from a misdiagnosis of your condition, but this doctor doesn’t seem to want to take your concerns seriously and what he is saying seems questionable. It takes time for the capsule of connective tissue that encases the bones, ligaments, and tendons of your shoulder joint to thicken and tighten up so, for him to diagnose AC immediately after a fall, doesn’t make a lot of sense. (Please, anyone else, weigh in on this if you think I'm wrong. I think the condition can worsen more quickly once it's developed but it has to get built up in the first place.)
I don’t want you to think that I’m saying that the course of action you’ve chosen to take is necessarily wrong. I honestly don’t know if there are any acute shoulder injuries—other than fractures, obviously—that could be worsened by physical therapy and, even for rotator cuff tears, that’s often the recommended treatment. If you suspect, however, that you might have a complete tear of a muscle or tendon, what your doctor recommended won’t help (this would require surgery). I don't know...if it were me, I'd want to get a second opinion.
Like many folks on this forum, I’m on my second—opposite-side—frozen shoulder; the first was 6 or 7 years ago and healed in less than 6 months without any treatment. I’m now 7 months into this one with no sign of it abating anytime soon. The first two orthopedists I saw weren’t bad doctors but they were the type who simply told me what they were going to do and, because I’ve researched this condition so thoroughly and am more familiar than they are with other things that are going on with me, I was looking for a more collaborative experience. Since, pain was my primary concern, I sought a consultation with a pain specialist at a local orthopedic practice who gave me an ultra-sound guided cortisone injection that has reduced my pain by at least 70% (a non-guided injection I’d had previously was ineffective). He doesn't prescribe opioids so the other things I’m using for pain are ice and kratom, both of which are very effective (I know kratom isn’t available as a consumable in Canada but…). Except for the gentle PNF (proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) exercises for this condition that I found on YouTube (posted by a Canadian PT), I’m no longer doing physical therapy as it wasn’t helpful. I plan to give medical massage a try soon but, other than that, I’ve decided to wait this out even if it takes a couple of years (it helps that I'm retired).
Finally, I feel like a bit of a piker when it comes to offering feedback since I’ve been reading other posts for several weeks and this is the first time I’ve responded to any. I’ve benefited a lot from reading of other’s experiences; it’s been so nice to know that I’m not alone in my suffering (though, of course, none of us would wish this on anyone else). You’ve certainly figured out by now that while we all seem to share the same symptoms, what offers relief to one person doesn't necessarily work for someone else. So...take my feedback for what it’s worth.
Cheerio Daibola
Posted
Well, I think your feedback is worth a lot so thank you very much, Daibola, for your response. Your first frozen shoulder healed in less than six months and you're in your seventh month with a second frozen shoulder...sorry to read you have had it twice. How long did it take for the guided cortisone injection from start to finish? I will look for the PNF video. Again, thank you! And wishing you well.
Daibola Cheerio
Posted
Thanks for your kind response. Here's how the ultrasound guided injection went down.
First, you lie down on your "good" side so your frozen shoulder is easy to access. Then they smear the conductive gel on your shoulder and use the probe to transmit the picture to the unit. In my case, the doctor said that the image was very clear and then remarked on how thick the tissue was which confirmed the AC diagnosis.
Next, the doctor gave me a shot of lidocaine to numb up the shoulder. This stung a bit but was bearable.
Finally, he injected the cortisone while looking at the ultrasound image. I could see the needle on the ultrasound as he kept re-positioning it to get the fluid into the correct spot. After a few seconds, I began to feel intense pain in my shoulder joint. Frankly, it was excruciating but it didn't last for too long. The pain was in the front not in the back where he inserted the needle. The doctor said that that was a good indication that he had gotten it in the right spot.
The whole procedure from start to finish took about 10 minutes.
I began to get relief within a day. The pain that was the most difficult for me was in the scapular region...it was unrelenting before. Since I got this injection 9 days ago, I've only experience that type of pain on a couple of days and it's been much milder. I'm just hoping that it lasts for a good long while.
I hope this is what you were looking for. If not, let me know.
Cheerio Daibola
Posted
Thank you, Daibola, for your detailed response. Very helpful. How is your shoulder now since your last response? That sounds as if it would be painful, especially the repositioning of the needle in an area that was already painful. I'm usually fine with needles. I had a series of rabies shots a few years ago in my abdomen, butt, legs & arms, and it was not painful at all. More like a mild ache for a few seconds. However, the thought of a cortisone injection in the shoulder makes me cringe. I appreciate the detailed explanation. Thank you! Wishing you well.