Coping with FROZEN SHOULDER

The condition causes pain and stiffness, making the shoulder hard to move

This occurs when the flexible tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint – known as the capsule – becomes inflamed and thickened, affecting one or both shoulders, although it’s not fully understood why. It’s also called adhesive capsulitis, or shoulder contracture.

Your risk increases if you have previous shoulder injuries or surgery, diabetes or thyroid problems, Dupuytren’s contracture (hardening of the tissue in your palm), heart disease or stroke.

Typically, the shoulder pain becomes more severe over several months, then increasing stiffness occurs. In particularly severe cases, you can’t move your shoulder at all. Symptoms vary from mild, with little difference to daily activities, to severe, with no shoulder movement, making it difficult to do everyday tasks, such as bathing, dressing, driving and sleeping comfortably, worsening gradually. The stages of frozen shoulder are:

1 The ‘freezing’ phase, lasting two to nine months. Your shoulder starts to ache and can become very painful, such as when reaching out for things, especially worse at night or lying on the affected side.

2 The ‘frozen’ phase, lasting four to 12 months. Your shoulder becomes increasingly stiff, affecting daily living activities, but the pain doesn’t usually get worse and may even decrease.

3 The ‘thawing’ phase, lasting 12 months or more. You’ll gradually regain movement in your shoulder, and the pain starts to fade, although it may come back occasionally as the stiffness eases.

The diagnosis is made by your GP or physiotherapist, who will ask questions about your shoulder and symptoms, then a physical examination will take place, including checking your range of movement and strength. Treatment

options depend on the severity of your symptoms. Although most cases improve on their own, some can take over a year to resolve. Keeping your shoulder still will make the pain worse.

A frozen shoulder can sometimes mean you need to take some time off work to help recovery, how long depends on the nature of your condition and your role at work. You don’t need to be symptom free before you consider returning to work.

Gradually getting back to your normal daily activities can help to build up your strength and stamina levels. If your frozen shoulder hasn’t improved, or it’s got worse, after 12 weeks of treatment, your doctor may refer you for steroid injections or to see a shoulder specialist. Rarely, they may do an MRI or ultrasound scan to exclude other problems within the joint or soft tissues surrounding it.