Don’t skip the shots or the PT

Dear Dr. Roach: I have been diagnosed with frozen shoulder. This is the slowest recovery and the most agonizing pain. No over-thecounter products help, and I do not want surgery.I’m told this could last one to three years. Any suggestions? — D.E.

A frozen shoulder is a painful loss of motion of one of the joints in the shoulder — the glenohumeral joint. It can come on by itself, but often, is the result of not treating an injury. Without treatment, healing could take the one to three years.

Physical therapy is crucial for treatment; however, a joint injection is an effective supplementary treatment that you should consider. Studies have shown that one or more injections can speed up recovery. Physical therapy is more effective when people are in less pain and greater movement because of the injection.

I have had patients get so much relief with the injection that they never go to physical therapy: That’s a mistake.

Dear Dr. Roach: I’m a 76-year-old oncologist. I got the flu when I was 42. I haven’t contracted flu for 34 years. It seems to me that antibody levels should be high. Has anyone looked at antibody levels in patients like me? — J.M.C.

On one side, studies have shown that at least in some years, those who had gotten a flu shot in both consecutive years had less protection in the second year than those who got only the flu shot the second year. However, other studies have shown that people who get their vaccines every year have lower-than-expected risk of hospitalization or death due to flu.

The antibody levels themselves are not the best indicator of effectiveness of the flu vaccine, because antibody levels can drop to nondetectable and still provide a person protection. The protection can be very long-lasting.