Sharing my experience about frozen shoulder
Posted , 4 users are following.
Well,just like everyone else on this forum, no one else would understand the kind of pain frozen shoulder presents unless one has gone through it or witness one...
I am 45 years old female.
It all started with my high intensity , physical labor job 5 years ago. I started to get stiff neck multiple times on left side, back pain and tooth pain. Eventually I broke all left back teeth and had no choice but pull them out, then the tongue and jaw joint on left side started hurting just about every single day for some odd reason, my dentist said it was due to lack of support for my jaw...
The last draw was hike up the hill in cold for hours, two days later carrying heavy luggage on my shoulder ,running across airport..,. My neck finally gave out, left shoulder started hurting then completely immobile by the end of trip. That was beginning of January this year2017.
The my journey with frozen shoulder began. The kind of pain involved was beyond words. Left shoulder felt like 300 lbs and extremely painful at night. Only way to sleep was applying cool ointment and high dose of Motrin. Once I accidentally bump my arm and it took me to an instant black out with stars in my eyes.
First three months was nothing but pain. Unable to move, put left hand on steering wheel nor washing/ brush my hair like normal. Going to bathroom or dress myself took 3 times longer, practically unable to perform any task without some sort of major struggle. Lifting left arm was like a far fetch dream and only wish I can function at least halfway then I would be happy. Arm could not raise, twist front or back.
Nothing , and I repeat nothing that anyone told me to do helped. In fact, some exercise s PT told me to do hurts even more that I could not breath for hours with pain.
The only thing that kind of help, was press hard around the tender, sore muscles of affected areas, some how that relief the stiffness little by little, which is kind of like deep tissue massage but not full speed.
It might be the heat in summer, or persistent self massaging the tender area, and keep stretching / exercise, all the sudden I was able to steer the wheel in car...gradually I was able to tie pony tail and center it in middle. Still some pain in morning, but range of motion has regain tremendously.
It's been almost a year, range of motion has returned at least 85 percent,. That heaviness is gone. I am still working on that last healing by stretching and deep tissue massage. I don't know if my left arm will ever completely heal, but I graciously thank God to let me even have this much of functionality back.
If anyone we're to ask me about the cause, based on my own experience, it has a lot to do with chronic injury from spine and neck.
How to treat it ? Time, deep tissue massage, heat, and lots of stretching when your body allows you to. If any form of exercise hurts, stop, time to rest.
Bottom line is, don't try to rush the healing, ,
It will take a really long time to even see some improvement... Stay active but not over exercising, or push limit beyond what our body allows....
1 like, 5 replies
kay14145 lynn71897
Posted
It sounds as though your experience has been worse than mine
You must have needed to be very strong to have endured it
But we must just get through and hope for a successful outcome
I hope you continue to improve
Kay
lynn71897 kay14145
Posted
Thank you so much for the kinds words, and yes, I also sincerely wish complete recovery for you, ..
God bless,
lynn
Jmiller0007 lynn71897
Posted
Everything you said is spot on. The pain is a whole other level I never thought was possible. And an extremely slow process. I’m a 44 year old female, I’m very active, kayak, bike, and my Love was Crossfit. Since April I haven’t been able to do anything, sitting out when everyone else your around is still doing everything you love to do. it’s painful yes... but for a person when they are extremely active, to have to stop doing almost everything really took a toll on me, I got depressed. It is in my dominant right shoulder. I could do a 150 lb overhead press, and now I can’t lift my arm above my chest without help from a pulley or my other arm. This condition is severely under rated, under studied, and unless you had this, no one can understand the pain.
Did you have MUA, or let it run it’s own course? I had MUA a few weeks ago, I dont believe I’m done freezing yet, I’m losing ground again, but fighting back with PT and stretching 4-5 times a day.
Glad you are on the mend!
lynn71897 Jmiller0007
Posted
Hi Jmiller,
Oh I completely understand what you are going through, from being an healthy, vibrant individual to self doubting, hopeless and uncertain about what to do next.
I did not receive any cortisone injection, nor any procedures. It was a lot of Motrin, bengay and high power endurance.
My mother had gone through some shoulder issues and she already prepped me about lengthy recovery time so I was expecting it. And based on all the stories online and ppl i spoke to about shoulder issues, everyone just seems to have more problems after surgery,. Some ppl just let nature take it's course and that's what I chose to do.
It's a very strange illness ,. I started reading something about. " Adrenal fatigue" too. Which is also another ailment that doctors don't really talk about. It's the result of chronic stress physically and/or emotionally that causes hormonal or chemical imbalance, which have all the symtoms of digestive issues, muscle joint pain, low immunity system, etc....
I wonder if FS is result of all of that,. Shoulder just finally collapse and cut off all the circulation due to inability to heal from chronic trauma, and since our body is at a state of low fighting mojo, it just freezes up...
These last few years have been really difficult for me,. Having to care for my husband in and out of hospital many times, care for my elder parents,. On top of having to work at an high stress job to keep health insurance and pay the bills. I truly believe the all the stress just push my body to a break down, it almost felt like recovering from a stroke.
I truly believe you will make full recovery with no further procedure,.however, as to MUA, I personally did lots of research and decided to leave my body alone,. Perhaps you want to get 2nd opinion from another medical professional before making a decision???? Please be patient, don't get discouraged, and minimize the stress factors in your life .....this might just be your body's way to tell you to slow down....
I pray for your complete recovery, and healthier, stronger every day...
lynn
Jmiller0007 lynn71897
Posted
thank you Lynn,
I agree with you, there does have to be a reason how this FS starts. I do have Hasimoto's hypothyroidism. My dr said that increased my chances of it, it also increases my chances of getting this in my left shoulder. I did have the MUA, but it's been freezing back, I do believe it wasn't done running its course. I'm going to let my body do what it needs to do from this point on, I will not go through that again. I wish you the best, and I hope you fully recover!