Physical Therapy Results

Hi Sue,

Welcome to the FS club - the one you definitely don't want to be a member of

I did try PT and went about a half dozen times before stopping. It was pretty painful and I was worn out after the sessions.  I then started talking to a few people and found that many I spoke with did not get any results with PT.  So I began to wonder if the pain was going to produce any results.  I then went online to look for evidence-based results for the various FS treatments and there wasn't any strong evidence that PT worked.  I got FS in December 2015 and I am nearly finished with it and have most of my mobility back.  I read a lot and finally read someone's post that she did absolutely nothing and it went away on its own.  AFter trying PT and massage, I began to wonder if it was something cyclical that just needed to get through the phases in its own time.  With some trepidation, I decided to stop all formal treatments and let it work itself out on its own time.  I kept exercising (nothing special for the shoulder) to keep my mood and energy up.  And I'm thrilled to share I'm nearly healed.  So my advice is to trust yourself and your body to guide you.If you don't feel something is working, stop.  And know that it does get better I promise!

Hi sue. I initially noticed my FS starting last September. Ugh can't believe it's been a year. I began PT in February but was unable to deal with tremendous amount of pain. I laid off for a few months and was totally frozen by June. I recently started PT again in July as now I must be in frozen or thawing stage. What a difference a few months make. And a great therapist. My PT guy actually breaks a sweat with my stretching exercises. My bicep has atrophied a lot and I have a winged scapula now because of this also. I am great fun everyday for his help with working my arm and shoulder. Yesterday I slow danced with my husband and was actually able to put both arms around his neck! Every day is a little improved. I continue to take MSM 1000 mg once a day and think this has helped me also get to this point. It has been my savior for pain relief. Best of luck. Slowly but surely it gets better.

It's an herbal supplemental I buy at a local pharmacy, CVS. It's methylsulfonylmethane and has been the only thing that helps me with the all day/ all night nagging pain. One year in and I still need one tablet a day. I've tried to go without buy end up with the nagging pain again, especially at night. I figure if it helps I'll just have to keep taking it. I truly believe it has decreased my swelling also. Can't wait til I'm pain free.

My Orthopedic doc was pretty upset that my regular MD put me in PT. I'm a Diabetic, so maybe it's different if you are a non-Diabetic? Orthopedic doctor said the PT can make FS shoulder worse if you in the "painful stage".

do for a Frozen Shoulder. We have to just wait it out and no matter what we do, the FS will eventually go away on it's own. It doesn't matter if you go to PT, have a zillion shots or even the surgery, it will just go away anyway. .....I frankly don't think anyone in the medical industry really knows what's going on, I know the FS is not well understood.  I am of the opinion that the doctors are just keeping us busy until the FS goes away :-)

PS. I have been using the Elliptical machine (gently) for a half an hour 3x a week and also using some light weights, as long as they don't cause pain the next day. That seems to help a little, for me anyway.  Good luck to you. 

Hi Sue:

When I first starting having weird arm pains, I started physio. I had never heard tell of a frozen shoulder. I did physio for a couple months until she discharged me presumably well. My shoulder still wasn't quite right though deep inside, and shortly after, the pain intensified into what I learned was full blown FS. I went to a different physiotherapist who was very aggressive and pronounced doom & gloom & that I'd need surgery. Instead, so very thankfully, I found this forum and read about being kind with it instead of continuing to inflame it, that I should keep using my hand & arm 'normally', have patience, use pillows, meds, heat, etc. I quit the very painful physio immediately & was more assertive with my doctor about getting effective pain management.

So physio in the freezing stage didn't help - I doubt physio can prevent FS, though that's a common line from those who haven't had it - that we get idiopathic FS from not moving it enough 'thru the pain'. There's no point to physio in the frozen stage. But once my shoulder started to thaw, I went back to the first more gentle PT who is now working on my other shoulder & upper back too. I am mostly thawed now...so thankful!

Quitting the aggressive PT was the best thing I could have done. But I can see that the more careful PT has been effective, along with cortisone & a goal to reduce, not aggravate, the inflammation, and to retrain the shoulder muscles to function again without compensating with the 'shrug' thing we do with FS. 

You might find this thread helpful; the article I posted in it was a useful read for my PT. https://patient.info/forums/discuss/does-pt-help-at-all--518007  

Keep us posted on what works for you! It's the experience from this forum that helped me make the best decisions for my own care, and choose from the differing views.

Liane