FROZEN SHOULDER SHOULD I BE OFF WORK

So pleased to have found this thread.....it's amazing how much comfort there is in shared suffering! Not that I would wish this condition on my worse enemy, it's just that unless you have experienced it, you have no idea of how excruiating/disabilitating it is. Was diagnosed with FS in my left side (after an initial mis-diagnosis of a trapped nerve in my neck!) in 2009 and eventually had an MUA in

May 2010. I gradually regained 100% mobility in left shoulder after extensive and painful PT, Hydrotherapy and Accupunture.

Fast forward to Nov 2012 and the dreaded symptoms started to appear in my right (dominant) shoulder.

Unbearable pain...worse when lying down, difficulty dressing,washing my hair, driving, showering and general household chores. Dragging myself through each working day and dreading going to bed (despite being exhausted) because the increased pain and lack of restful sleep. With the benefit of hindsite i asked my G.P.for a consultant referral, after the cortisone injections failed to give any relief. I was offered key-hol;e surgery plus an MUA and am currently 8 weeks post op. The pain has not diminished (the surgeon keeps telling me it will settle down soon!!!) and the physio is extremely painful ...I'm told at physio to try to get my pain levels under control as the resulting lack of sleep will affect my recovery. Have tried virtually every medication available to no avail...nothing seems to touch it except Tramadol which turns me into a zombie. Have noticed that somebody has tried Nortripaline and has good results so I need to give that a go.

Not sure if there is any useful advice I can give......my brain is 'frazzled' with pain and lack of proper sleep so it's difficult to think logically. It does eventually get better without intervention but such a long time to wait in intense pain. Try to be pro-active.....research the subject....try anything you think may help. I honestly believe that the effectiveness of treatments depends on what is applied at which stage of the condition...which complicates everything as the stages dont have a definitive time period.

lots of info on the internet re this subject but as always much more research needed. If one more (non-sufferer) tells me "Well at least it's not life- threatening" I m going to scream...and I would dispute this on the grounds that the pain levels do make some people comtemplate ways in which to end their pain.

On the positive side my left shoulder is fine....pain free and full mobility....and so my focus must be on this end result for my right shoulder...and the knowledge that once you've had it in both it does not return (or so my consultant tells me?)

Hi jackie157,

Yes I have found this thread useful also, it is good just to read that we're not alone with this unbearable condition! I am nearly three weeks post op, my shoulder had started to feel improvement until I started hairdressing last week, which I now know was way too soon, and now while I'm working its just so painful I'm nearly in tears. I'm taking painkillers every two hours which don't help much as they are only panadol and neurophen, but I've asked for a script for digesics as my aunty gave me these and they are the only thing that takes my pain away. After reading a lot of threads on the Internet, it seems we have a long road of recovery ahead of us. My specialist said it will take about six months, but who knows.. I'm still in as much pain as I was before the operation and that's really scaring me. Night time is so much worse than the day time, it's unbearable. I'm just doing my own physio now only a couple of times a day and with help can lift my arm above my head which I couldn't do before. I can't do it on my own though. I just wish I had a couple more weeks of my shoulder could recover a bit more.

So just a few questions for you if you don't mind..? Is your shoulder better than it was before the op or about the same? How long did u have off work? Can you lift your arm above your head with or without help? And dies it feel worse than when you had your other one done under MUA?

A lot of people get in the other shoulder and I don't think I could cope with that!! I'm terrified of that happening to me, I really feel for you. I'm so glad your other shoulder had fully recovered and hopefully this one will too. Like you I am at my wits end and worried this op won't make any difference or has made it worse. My specialist told me my shoulder was a mess when he went in and I have a lot of arthritis so will eventually need a replacement. More pain to look forward to! I hope you keep posting so I can see how you're doing as you're ahead of me by five weeks.

Hopefully things will get better for the both of us!

Hi Angela

My heart goes out to you, going back to work so soon after your op. The surgeon signed me off for 8 weeks immediately after surgery and when I saw him for follow-up appointment, He stated that I shouldn't go back for at least another 4 weeks. I don't know how you are doing it....with hairdressing you must have to elevate your arms most of the time and the pain must be incredible.

To answer your questions, it doesn't at the moment feel any better than prior to the op. The physiotherapist tells me not to give up as shoulder surgery is known to be 'tricky' in recovery and that she has seen many people who said they wish they hadn't had surgery 3-4 months post op and then all of a sudden, feel a significant improvement.

As mentioned earlier, I'll be off work for at least 12 weeks.....which is obviously not good news financially but I honestly could not contemplate returning yet - partly because I just could not physically manage but also because as a psychiatric nurse, I feel my clinical judgement is seriously impaired by sleep deprevation and pain levels.

I am able to reach above my head with 'active assisstance' ie somebody helping or with the aid of a stick but my arm is still very weak unaided.

I do think the MUA alone was more sucessful, however, this may be because this op was carried out over a year from the start of the problem on the left shoulder and so was probably well into stage 2 of the process. This time, the MUA plus keyhole was carried out approx 7 months from the start of the problem on the right shoulder and the surgeon said that the joint was extremely inflamed when he operated. this is kind of what I meant when I said that I believe the timeing of the intervention is crucial to its sucess...not just surgery, I believe that the cortisone injections can be useful but only in a certain time frame.

Hope this has been of some help....take care.

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for answering my questions, it was very helpful. It makes me wonder whether these operations help us or whether the FS is just getting better anyway. I, like yourself have had my op about seven months in, and like yours mine was very red and inflamed also. The pics were terrible, no wonder where all in so much pain! My specialist isn't even sure if ill get any relief because of how much arthritis I have in my shoulder, so that was encouraging news 😳When I did my exercises today my shoulder was very stiff and I couldn't stretch it as far, so I hope it's not freezing again. I think mine might be a bit better than yours, as on the weekends when I'm not working, I don't take pain killers through the day just to see what the pains like. It's actually not too bad - painful but bearable. It's only when I'm working or in the night time that I need the strong pain killers. If I had an office job or something similar, I think I could work with not a lot of pain. I work for myself so it's not easy to take time off, so it's too late now as I am booked out for weeks, so I just have to suck it up.

Wouldn't it be great if like your specialist said, in 3-4 months we found we had all of a sudden turned a corner?! Seriously even if I didn't get my movement back I wouldn't care, as long as the pain goes away! Like you said, people who have not experienced this rotten ailment, don't begin to know what it's like - its very frustrating.

Some good news for me, my specialist has agreed to write a script for Di-gesics for me ( which are an opiot and highly addictive and bad for you but I don't care) so I'm over the moon. I'm in Aus but I'm guessing you have those where ever you are too?

Anyway I really hope you do turn that corner soon and ill look forward to hear how you're progressing.

Take care..

Hi Debbie and Jackie,

Just wondering how your frozen shoulders are doing??

Angela.

hi

just had MUA on Thursday and feel great a lot more movement , but have been told to exercise it a lot to stop it stiffening up again .

going to give a couple more days then try to swing a golf club ,for the first time in 18 months , so would highly recommend MUA as it has worked well for me.

cheers

mike

Hello Angela, Im doing very well but still have 'bad' days now and again. The movement is improving everyday and the 'pain shoots' are completely over.

I'm about 6 months into this frozen shoulder and it's healing and getter better a lot faster than the first shoulder,

I have to keep up the exercises and especially the loosening of the joint by somebody who turns the arm from shoulder to elbow in circles for about 2 minutes at least 2 times a day, if I skip that it freezes up fast.

And you how are you doing?

Hi Debbie,

Great to hear your shoulders doing so well! Especially only 6 months in. I get twinges in my other shoulder and am praying to god that I don't get in that one!

My shoulders not good as my specialist sent me back to work after two weeks, and being a hairdresser, it's very painful. I'm taking stronger painkillers to try and stop the pain but they're not working much. I still feel like I have an impingement or a rotator cuff tear as I get a lot of pain on the corner of my shoulder and in the muscle just below that. Did you get that pain too? As soon as I lift my arm above shoulder level it really hurts. If it doesn't go away I may have to change my profession. When I have my days off its not too bad. Night times are still painful but as bad as before.

I don't know if I would recommend this surgery as the first few weeks after we're horrific! I still feel like I have a frozen shoulder and my specialist said it will take at least six months before it improves, so not sure if its worth it. I also have grade four arthritis so he said ill need a replacement down the track. These frozen shoulders are just so cruel, it's the worst thing I've ever experienced and very depressing and draining.

I'll try your exercise as that obviously works and ill start swimming in summer as that seems to be the best thing for a frozen shoulder. Great to hear you're nearly there with your second one, you must be very happy!

Angela.

Hi Angela

Sorry for the delay in replying....I've been without internet access for several days but am now able to catch up!

Well, I saw my consultant this week and he is now recommending that I have the whole proceedure redone!!!!! Although there is some improvement in postoperative range of movement the range of external rotation (with elbow adducted to torso) remains at the poor 5% that was my preoperative state.

I'm devestated...and really can't face a repeat procedure.... or more to the point the pain levels endured since the op.

He reminded me that the op has a 20% failure rate and I was informed of this.....I was but was at a stage when I would have tried any solution.

So...at the moment I am waiting for a referal to go through for a second expert opinion on my options for a way forward.

I don't feel physicaly or mentaly able to return to work......but financialy will have to return in the very near future.

A friend has recommended trying remedial massage to work on 'trigger points' so intend to give this a go. Could prob get by at work with reduced mobility IF the pain was under control but with a pain relief which allows you to retain your faculties!!!

I gather from your last post that you are still suffering...you have my sympathy. On the positive side it sounds as if others (Debbie/Mike) are doing well so we'll have to take heart from that and plod on with our exercises.

Take care ..and keep me posted re (I hope) eventual progress!

Jackie

Hi there,I have had frozen shoulder in left and right sides,the left shoulder being the worst of the two,believe me it hasn't been easy,I am now 6 years later still in pain every day,I have had injections,painkillers and tried every exercise there is to no avail,I am nearly 59 years old and am at my wits end,will the pain never stop! it effects all aspects of my life and the ripple effect of this terrible inconvenience is getting me down,I am a very optimistic positive person and hope one day to be pain free,my gp has told me that I probably have arthritis as a result of frozen shoulders and it will get worse with age,I am an active person and gardener so try not to let it stop my activities choose how much I suffer afterwards,is there anybody out there can give me some positive info please,totally fed up and would love a pain free day Thank you to all who take time to read this, help

Hi Jackie,

Another operation!!! He has to be kidding!! Who cares about your range of motion in that particular area? I don't know about you, but that's not why I had the op, it was to stop the pain! Why would he want you to go through all of that agony again?? I definitely would get a second opinion. I don't know about you but I feel our shoulders still have to go through their stages to get better.. A client told me the other day that her friend that had the same op was told it would take two years to come good. If I had known all of this before my op, I don't think I would have had it done. It seems the MUA is more successful than our op. I don't know about massage on your trigger points, make sure they're gentle! Acupuncture has worked for some people.. So is your shoulder still worse than it was before your op?

I have good and bad news re my shoulder. When I'm not working my shoulder isn't too bad. On weekends I try to go without too many painkillers. It's a little painful but mainly if I twist my arm the wrong way. Night times are getting better too which is a relief! Nights were agony and I would often be in tears. Now I'm sleeping a lot better which leads me to think its slowly getting better. On the down side, as soon as I start work, even my first client after strong painkillers, I'm in agony! To me there is something pinching when I lift my arm up, so I'm going to ask my specialist to investigate to see if I have an impingement. My very first scan said so but my specialist concentrated on my frozen shoulder. If I do, it means another op but its just shaving some bone so hopefully won't be too bad. I also have grade four arthritis so will never be pain free.

I came to the sad conclusion today that I will have to give up hairdressing and close my business down as I just can't put up with the pain. It's taken weeks and lots of tears to come to this decision, but I don't have any other choice. I do have insurance but won't get a good wage but it will get me through until I get another job.

I really do feel for you and hope your second opinion can give you a better solution and I look forward to hearing how you go. Hang in there,

Angela.

Hi Susie,

I'm sorry to hear you've been suffering for over six years! That's just awful, no wonder you're at your wits end! The only advice I have learnt from these forums, is that physio doesn't seem to work, swimming seems to be the best thing for it, and that the manipulation under anesthetic seems to work quite well. If you read this thread right through from the beginning, it might give you some more useful advice. It helped me just seeing what other people were trying and going through.

Good luck,

Angela.

Hello Angela, It's shocking to hear that you want to close your business down!

The full motion takes about 2 years but you will find yourself able to work again soon, it sounds to me that your through the worst part now and you should start the defrosting stage soon. This takes a long time but it's mostly painless.

Take care.