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I have Frozen shoulder and can't get through PT w/o ending in tears from the pain. Is that normal?

Posted , 23 users are following.

amy729
amy729

I was diagnosed a couple months ago. Got a steroid shot which didn't help. Doing I intensive physical therapy but is it normal to be brought to the point of tears and feeling like I'm going to pass out? It's like I'm being stabbed with a knife in my shoulder over and over. Should I find a better physical therapist or is this normal?

2 likes, 39 replies

39 Replies

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  • teresa42721
    teresa42721 amy729

    Posted

    I was diagnosed too about 2 months ago . I too had a steroid injection which made pain worse . I have been referred to Physio and an appointment date has been sent for 10th of December. I have paid privately for an osteopath and have been twice the first time I came away feeling a slight bit of relief , but the second time I went which was 4 days ago I came away in terrific pain especially in upper arm and my movement is has become worse. She massaged and pulled it and it just made the pain worse . I am still in a lot of pain now. I think maybe while the pain is bad maybe it's best to let it rest and do exercises to improve movement when the pain eases . It is hard to cope with as it gets you down and it just feels like it will never improve .

    • beverly52803
      beverly52803 teresa42721

      Posted

      Be assured it will go away at some point, but it can be a long haul. I gave up on PT. Eventually it thaws. Some here have tried other methods which have worked for them and got them through the process sooner. Read, compare and try what seems best for you. Good luck.
    • teresa42721
      teresa42721 beverly52803

      Posted

      Thanks I realise it may take time but I just feel I have gone backwards after going to osteopath the pain has got worse and I am back to up at night with hot water bottle and pain killers .. I will say though this site gives you support and reassurance that others feel and know what you are going through . It does help at 2 am in the morning 😁

  • Elainescribens9
    Elainescribens9 amy729

    Posted

    Hi Amy...I found for my first fs seven yrs ago a Chiro who basically manipulated it. Painful. Did it shorten the whole thing. Debatable. My consultant last week said Physios were a waste of money. They cannot shorten the lifecycle of a FS. Theonly choices are hydrodilation. Is that how u spell it. Or MUA which I had last week. I was three months in. Enough was enough. Trigenics seens to be the latest buzz word. ...There r posts on this sight. I ran a mile last time. I was frightened by the options. Physio great for post Op to get strengh back etc....good luck

  • jull
    jull amy729

    Posted

    It shouldn't hurt that much. If you are in freezing stage or dies not help. If you are thawing then I would say find a different pt

  • tracey30163
    tracey30163 amy729

    Posted

    I did a lot of research and found people who went through surgery and or PT did not heal any faster than people who did nothing. In fact PT should not be done in the painful stage. I did no surgery and no PT and went thru the horrible painful stage followed by the freezing stage and the complete frozen stage then the thawing stage. Thawing began around 20 months and at 1 year I have 95% of my ROM back. Your body guards itvwhen its painful and naturally uses it more and more when it's thawing. No need to force it, it often makes it worse. In the past month I've been waking in the morning with my arm up tucked under my head and pillow!

    • Oliveria
      Oliveria tracey30163

      Posted

      I had a frozen hip for over 4 years, I try just everything out there with no results including MUA, i was stuck in the frozen stage, I had surgery four months ago and finally Im starting to feel some movement, not perfect but better.

      Im going swimming pool and hut tub daily. I knew surgery wouldnt fix it right away but finally I can see good improvement. I will post in few more months my development.

      Thanks and wishing everyone a fast and more pleasent recovery.

    • tracey30163
      tracey30163

      Posted

      Should have said thawing started at 10 months not 20 months.
  • elizabeth_01817
    elizabeth_01817 amy729

    Posted

    Thanks for sharing Amy.  I tried a few interventions with my FS (which is now over) before I realized that FS has a cycle all its own and that for many of us, including me, it was just a matter of letting it do its thing naturally.  Doing PT in the frozen phase seemed like torture and didn't seem to work so at some point after trying that and massage, I decided to do nothing and let it ride its course.  And it did just that. Went away after about a year.  I did take vitamins like magnesium and and pro-enzymes and fish oil which seemed to help. It was a good lesson in being patient but waiting it out caused me less anxiety than running around trying out multiple methods that didn't seem to change anything!

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