So much pain. Please help

Sorry about the bad typing. I can't find how to edit.

Hi Kim, I really feel for you, I guess you've read a lot of the other posts connected with this forum already and probably don't need to see a consultant to tell you you have a frozen shoulder!? This condition is so dibilitating and awful beyond words, it's all about the right management for you personally.  I've found through experience and reasearch, it depends on what is causing your frozen shoulder physically, which scans and MRI usually establish, but also things like a trauma or lack or hormones due to menopause effecting your ligaments, should be taken into account.  Treatment is very individual, and depending where you are in the 'stages' of your frozeness.  Read as much as u can, get advise from everyone and see what works for you.  It could be that your shoulder was too 'far along' for the cortisone to cure it, although it would still  help heal inside but not enough.  I was lucky enough, armed with hind sight to catch my second FS quickly, 2 months in, with an injection that has definitely help manage it, but not cure it, the disease (or what ever it is)FS will still have to run its course, I am fighting everyday with exercises to stretch it out, in the hope to stop it completely freezing up like my first one did. I have also found for me that turmeric powder capsules def help the muscle spasms.  Although you might feel alone in this battle, we are all here to offer support, it is quiet amazing how many people suffer in silence with this terrible thing.  Explore all the avenues available, physiotherapy, surgery etc, I wish you all the best with your journey and hope you start to get improvement soon xxxx

Thank you for your help. I'm in the uk. I have a fairly good shoulder doctor. I'm so disappointed it doesn't seem to have worked. I had one in my other shoulder and it worked almost straight away. I'm 55 and starting to go through menopause I have achy joints too. I get very stiff too. I'm so down with this pain.

Hi Kim,

I'm on my f.s. for 7mos now following a bicycle fall. I got an MRI at month 5 and a specialist confirmed adhesive capsulitis, plus some bruising on the bone. Bone bruises take a while to heal same with tendons. F.s. is most likely caused by our own immune system when it detects a problem it tends to fix on its own ie sending blood to the damaged area and then the blood is too much while the area is incapable of handling the additional help so the area hardens crystalize, hence fs. I read this theory somewhere and it sounds logical to me. Unfortunately, not enough people suffer f.s. that the medical industry doesn't feel a need to study it. Anyways, try pendulum swings, dangle your arm and do rotational swings. My arm hurt the most in the first couple mos. I would wake up screaming in pain then I do the swings. Relieves pain but you might have to do this several times. Lying down is worst. If you can sleep in a couch or recliner that might ease the pain when trying to sleep. Include the pendulum swings as part of your daily routine. Once you feel better include finger walks up a wall as high as you can. Do that several times a day. You will eventually get better each time you exercise. When you are feeling better add additional exercises like using a broomstick to raise up your arm. Using a towel behind your back to pull bad arm up and down. There's lots of videos on those, just Google f.s. I found the broomstick helpful plus using elastic bands for strengthning. Cortisone BTW only covers up the pain. It's steroid and it won't heal anything. Take supplements like D3, magnesium, glucosamine, b, and plenty more depending on which one you want. All these supplements are good for bone and joints. If you see a physical therapist which I did and she was helpful, make sure you are not in pain. If they make you hurt more stop and see someone else. Besides p.t. I also did neuro kinesiology, did not work much for me. Then I got an acupuncture and that helped. But the acupuncturist spent 2hrs on me, not only he did the acupuncture but he also gave me a massage and he rotated my joint pulled my arms. He's awesome but that's in San Francisco. Hot baths are great. If you can go to hot pool, steam room, sauna, you can do stretching there. Its easier on the shoulder. Last of all don't feel sorry for yourself, I know this is hard (I cried and wondered if my arm will be lame forever) but 7mos later I'm on my bike again, I went camping and hiking for a week. I can swim. I still feel some pain on my shoulder if I dont exercise. My arms is still not symmetrical. I can scratch my back. I use sports bras so I never bother with hooking anything. Recovery time varies but you need to stretch that shoulder if you want to recover. There is no wonder pill for it. Good luck to you Kim. You can do it!!!

Hi Kim, you sound like you are really going through the mill.  Believe me it does get better, just seems like forever.  Try and get hold of one of those neck bolsters with microbeads in it.  Fold it into its bolster cushion format like a sausage, place this under your affected arm when you are in bed, it helps with the pain.  I have tried a lot of different pain killers but they don't seem to help.  Try running a warm shower over the affected shoulder before you go to bed, and apply ice after doing any exercise.  When you see you shoulder specialist in the near future, try to start a daily journal about your shoulder and take this along.  The daily journal you could start today, start with how bad the pain is right now on a scale of 1-10 where 1 is virtually pain free and 10 is extreme agony.  As the pain changes, note when it eased and what helped to ease it, and the time the pain eased.  Try to describe where the pain is and if it travels and where it goes to.  It helped me to see that my pain was brought on by doing certain activities, and when the pain was diminishing and that there was indeed progress.  I have had frozen shoulders in the past in both shoulders, but I have never felt the total agony until this one, I am over 1 year and a few months now and having surgery this week as a final resort.  I have a fantastic consultant now as my last one retired, and this one has given me another injection a few months ago that really helped with the pain, until I have the surgery.  My only other suggestion is, try to sleep when you can, whether it be in a chair or on the bed, sleep deprivation only contributes to the pain cycle.  I also found if the pain was extreme during the night, that getting up and walking about helped, and I would take some strong painkillers with a glass of milk, have a warm shower over my affected shoulder and try to sleep in an armchair with a V shaped pillow and a light blanket.  I hope some of these suggestions help.  Best wishes 

Hi Kim ... really sorry to hear you are in so much pain. I am 5 weeks in to developing 2 frozen shoulders, both were very painful to begin with but one was pretty much exactly as you describe. I would wake in the night in agony just from moving my hand. Stopped me sleeping for more than about 90 minutes at a time.

I went to Hospital of St Elizabeth and St John in St Johns Wood London. The consultant recommended a hydrodilatation injection ( saline and steroid ) not just a cortizone injection. He reckoned there are increasingly good results from that procedure, in theory the saline exands the joint and releives the scar tissue caused by lack of lubrication . At least I think thats what he was saying . Anyway I had the jab ( they use an x-ray picture to guide them not ultrasound ) 2 weeks ago and since then the really bad shoulder is so much less painful. Not out of the woods as I still cannot sleep on either side, but I get at least a 3 hour stretch most nights. Painkillers ( cocodamol etc ) didnt seem to touch either shoulder. 

Perhaps worth you going to a different specialist and asking about hydrodilatation assuming your first jab was just cortizone ?

Good luck ...

i went back to the surgeon he said the cortisone didnt and probably wouldnt work. So im having an operaation on it, something called arthroscopic capulation? he seems to think it will clear up my pain. I didnt really want such an invasive procedure but i have t do something for the pain, i cannot live with this indefinetely.

 

Hi Kim, Try using a negative ion blanket. It worked for me.

Kim, Its been some time since I suffered from FS but once in the excruciating inescapable grip of its pain, I started to research. I eventually found the Niels Asher technique which I knew something about through trigger point therapy I had been successfully treated with previously. I phoned the 3 doctors closest to me to speak to each of them about Niels Asher. If you opt for this, I recommend calling each doctor to speak with them to get a feel for who sounds to be the one that seems like a good fit for you. The 3rd doctor I phoned, the furthest from me, seemed to be the one for me. He was 200 miles away. I drove to him 4 or 5 times. Within 2 months I was nearly pain free. For me, it was remarkable, the turnaround to the end of my suffering. Had he not helped me, I may have given up. It's not practiced widely but if you are interested, you might try this therapy. It was inexpensive, noninvasive and relatively quick. Should I, God forbid, go through this again, there ia no doubt this is the path I'll take. I wish you nothing but the best in your healing.

Paula

Hi Kim,

I too am suffering with a second frozen shoulder and am currently waiting for my hydrodilation appointment.  In the meantime I find 30mg of codine, a small pillow under the affected arn and a hot wheat bag  over it help me to get a reasonable nights sleep.  If I wake in the night Bio Freeze gel available from Boots helps with the pain. First time round I was really afraid of getting hooked on codine and probably didn't take enough. This time getting enough amount of sleep has helped as has finally getting signed off work rather than fighting on. My doctor recognised the excruciating pain of a frozen shoulder and was very forthcoming with both the drugs and sick note. Don't be a hero!

Hi Kim... boy do I ever relate to your post.  I started noticing a lot of pain in my arm/shoulder late last summer after an intense 2 weeks of "shovelling rock and bark".  When I told myself that if it was PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE TO CUT OFF MY OWN ARM, I WOULD just to make the pain go away, I knew it was time to go to doctor.  Ortho doc said it was "bursitis".  She gave me a Cortisone shot, which did nothing!  Because of the pain, I stopped moving my arm as much as possible (non-dominant one, thank goodness) and kept it very tucked in at my side.  Well, that was a big no  no, because it turned into Frozen Shoulder.  As it was going into the frozen stage, I started noticing it was harder to wash my back, put on a jacket, put on a bra, etc.    Also, a quick movement of my arm would bring on the kind of pain that drops you to your knees and takes your breath away... That happened about 10 times during those few months.  It automatically makes you cry it is so sharp!  And then after 10 seconds, it would slowly subside.  Then my arm would be just a little achy for a few mins, then totally fine.  I think my BF thought I was crazy because I'd be in tears for 2 mins, then get up and go about my day.  He couldn't quite understand these  "pain zaps".... 

I do also remember the "popping" you describe.  I was reaching behind me to grab something and it felts like all the tendons "popped and shifted" and the same "pain zap" shot down the arm....I quickly learned to STOP reaching behind me after that!

This "freezing" fiasco went on from Sept - Jan... then "frozen" fiasco had no pain, unless I tried to reach beyond the "stuck" point.  I was left with an arm that no longer moved.  I couldn't reach out in front of me past shoulder height... reaching out to side was impossible and couldn't get it anywhere near shoulder height... reaching behind me was 100% gone...  

In Jan, I went back to same doctor and she said, " all we do now is wait!"  She instructed me to STOP physio because I was going to need it once the shoulder thawed.  She told me FS could take up to a year to thaw.  Both freezing and frozen stages are so debilitating!  It changes your life completely, so I knew I could not wait another year out!  I went back to same clinic in late March but saw shoulder surgeon.  Told her i needed an agressive approach to get on the road to healing.  We agreed on Manipulation under anesthesia, which was performed on Apr 21st.  I have been in intense PT since... I am experiencing pain only during the stretches / exercises, which is to be expected.  I have no pain otherwise.  I have almost FULL range of motion in most movements, but with the aid of my good arm.  It's amazing how much muscle loss takes place when you have FS.  The therapist and Ortho surgeon agree that rehabilitation will take months of hard work but I should have full ROM back eventually.  I WISH I WOULD HAVE HAD THE MANIPULATION DONE MONTHS AGO!!!!  It is so nice to be able to raise my arm in the shower to shave the armpit! LOL  It will be a tough road to recovery, but I am so hopeful!!!!!   I don't wish this entire process on my worst enemy.  But as the previous person said, this is a great place to read other people's journeys, frustrations, etc.  I know it helped me out a lot to get insight from others!  Hang in there and be proactive in your healing!  Don't be afraid to tell  your doc that you want an aggressive approach if you aren't willing to sit and wait out the "frozen" stage....  Take care!