Frozen Shoulder? Have you had it?

[CaptainMike]

Just wanting to hear about other's experiences with frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis). I'm having issues with this right now and was wondering if anyone found any way to speed up the healing process or exercises that helped or whatever. There seems to be quite a bit of quackery on the web on this subject an my doctor seems a bit vague about it overall.

Cheers,
Mike

[moorejames]

I was never formally diagnosed (not from lack of trying) but I'm pretty sure I had a good case of it a few years back (pre-diabetes diagnosis).

Other than large quantities of alcohol, the only thing I found that worked to provide some releif at all was massage therapy. I'd get an hour long massage, and she'd never make it past my left shoulder/back/neck area.

I'd make sure the massage person was more of a physical therapy type than just a relaxing type massager. The lady I went to had to bear down pretty hard to work the adhesions.

Good luck with it. It's not fun. It's slowly getting better but it's probably been 5 years now since it first starting bothering me and I still have a few issues left over from it.

[Jan B]

Capt Mike,

I started a thread on this a few weeks ago. Then I haven't signed on in a while . . .

I have lived with the condition for many years - first in the right, then the left shoulder. I am now unfrozen enough to actually sleep at night & even without Tylenol PM.

Do the exercises - but not to the point of serious pain. I only took the cortizone injection once & it took 3 days at least to get my glucose back under 500.

To be honest, hydrocodone is the only thing that ever gave me relief. I read for years online about people who had frozen shoulder, and the only truth I found, was a diabetic admitting, nothing really works, but the time it takes to run it's course and leave your body!!

Keep the glucose down as much as possible and hopefully recurrences won't come! That's what I'm telling myself.

Medical massage & accupuncture help, but you need it often.

[moorejames]

Oh, I forgot one more thing that really worked.

For one whole month, I was completely pain free. My doctor had prescribed something that I thought was a wonder drug.....

Vioxx......

Worked like a charm. Thankfully, my health insurance refused to fill my renewal on it and then a couple months later it all blew up in the press.

Glad the stuff didn't kill me, but the pain relief it brought WAS pure bliss for those 30 days.

After that, it was back to a stiff drink(s) at night and twice a week visits to the massage therapist.

jim

[Alice]

I had never heard of diabetics and "frozen shoulder" syndrome until I lurked on this forum. I don't know if this is what I had a few years ago, or not. I had a problem with putting on coats and jackets. One shoulder just didn't want to move...maybe hurt a little, but I usually favored it and slid into my coats one way or another.

It has since gone away. I probably did some stretching exercises to try to build the shoulder muscles. Rotating arms, gently, or course.

I now have no trace of it...does it just go away? I had originally attributed it to my cat snuggling up against my arm each night...and causing some kind of tendonitis.

[Mich]

Yes, I've had it twice, once in each shoulder. The first time I didn't see it coming and favored my shoulder because of the pain. It only got worse until eventually, after trying physical therapy, I had to have surgery. It was arthroscopic. I was out. They used a tube with a tiny cutting vacuum thing in the end and cleaned the crud out of the joint, then broke it loose. I awakened in the recovery room with my arm up over my head on the bed.

That wasn't the end. It remained sore and limited through about eight different physical therapists over a 2-3 year period. Many of them used what I though were dubious techniques that didn't do a thing and I stopped after 4-5 sessions. One such technique consisted of rolling a ultrasonic device around on my lubricated shoulder for about 15 minutes at session, then asking me if I felt anything. Some sessions actually made me worse by cranking too hard on me. Some felt too mild to do anything.

After about three years and much disappointment I tried one more time and FINALLY got a therapist who knew what she was doing! She cranked on me and told me to tell her if it hurt too much. I toughed it out and she iced it down afterward. After three (count em' THREE!) sessions my arm worked again.

DON'T GIVE UP!

A year later when the other shoulder started hurting, I began exercises and didn't let it freeze. After that much therapy, I knew a lot of them :T My favorite is done in the shower in the morning with warm water loosening up my shoulder. I stand sideways to the wall and "walk" my fingers up as high as I can get them. A little higher each day, even if it hurts.. It keeps that mobility. Also helps to lift a weight up there (start with a diet coke. Leaning on the wall with your arm down, trying to hold you away is another good resistance exercise.

Anything you can't do because it hurts, do it. The goal is to keep the capsule stretched so it doesn't freeze up and keep your muscles strong.

Good Luck!! Ice and ibuprophen help too. Mich

[camjen1]

I'm dealing with frozen shoulder right now also. I have had a cortisone shot and have been put put on nsaids and hydrocodone for the pain. Some days are better then others. It's a real bad day when I can't even carry my purse on my shoulder.

I have a bunch of gadgets at home that I have to use to help with it. They seem to help a little bit. If I go a day without doing them I can definitely feel the difference as my shoulder hurts a lot worse because of non-movement.

Hope you get better fast.

[Alice]

So, is this diabetic related? Seems like it comes up a lot here.

[princesslinda]

So, is this diabetic related? Seems like it comes up a lot here.

"What causes a frozen shoulder?

Frozen shoulder is the result of inflammation, scarring, thickening and shrinkage of the capsule that surrounds the normal shoulder joint. Any injury to the shoulder can lead to frozen shoulder, including tendinitis, bursitis, and rotator cuff injury. Frozen shoulders occur more frequently in patients with diabetes, chronic inflammatory arthritis of the shoulder, or after chest or breast surgery. Long-term immobility of the shoulder joint can put persons at risk to develop a frozen shoulder."

[Alice]

Great...first our feet, now our shoulders! What next?

[lgvincent]

I've got a lot of pain in my right shoulder and can't do simple things like throwing a ball right now. I've had it for well over a year now and wonder if it's this frozen shoulder thing.

[princesslinda]

I sit at the computer all day at work and sometimes i'll get a sore neck/shoulder near the area where my arm connects, probably from overuse and bad posture..however, this is quite different from what I experienced a few years back. Then, I couldn't even put on a coat without help, as my arm/shoulder just wouldn't move in that way without excruciating pain. Shrugging into a jacket or shirt was impossible. i'll never forget that pain.

[REDLAN]

I found this link (I too have a vested interest)

Adhesive Capsulitis -- familydoctor.org (http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/physical/injuries/374.html)

it gives a fairly simple explanation, plus some descriptions of home exercises - sound similar to Mich's post.

I also found this link which is a touch old (2000), but it discusses treatments.

The Physician and Sportsmedicine: Adhesive Capsulitis (http://www.physsportsmed.com/issues/2000/09_00/sandor.htm)

steroid injections, rest, oral steroids have no impact on the outcome of the condition.

home exercises and physical therapy are not backed up by clinical studies.

the 2 treatments that do work however are...

1) manipulation under anaesthesia - i.e. the surgeon moves your arm around to break the adhesions and restore movement.

2) surgery to remove/cut through the adhesions.

I would guess for these 2, any loss of movement would have to be quite severe - seeing as the complications include rupture and fractures humerous for number 1, and then there are all the usual complications for having surgery for number 2.

[CaptainMike]

Thanks for all the great replies everybody!

I'm still in the 'freezing' stage and still have decent mobility, just with an increasing amount of pain, the problematic issue with this is that onboard ship it makes it extremely difficult to sleep, especially in rough weather when my weight shifts around a lot due to the movement of the vessel.
The old rule "One hand for the ship, One hand for yourself" is somewhat difficut to apply, with only one good hand! so far I've been managing to deal with it fairly well, but I am scheduled to be up in the North Atlantic in Nov and Dec where it will probably be quite to be rough most of the time.

I will just keep plugging along though since I need to work having taken several months off after my diabetes diagnosis early this year, My last A1c was 5.8 so at least my BG is under control.
One piece of information I have come across regarding fozen shoulder is that supposedly glucose molecules have an affinity to bond with collagen and that is why diabetics are more prone to get this since the collegen in joints gets brittle and loses elasticity when exposed to high glucose levels.

As good a theory as any I guess.

Mike

[princesslinda]

Mike, I hadn't thought about how difficult/dangerous this would make your job...hope you get some relief soon!

[johnzoomer]

Yes I have had it and may I say it was extremely painful. I went to a doctor and did not know at the time that it is sometimes connected to diabetes. I was told that the fastest way to get rid of it is to be manually manipulated while under an anesthetic. I opted for the cowards way out and lived with it for a few months. Eventually it went away and I was able to exercise (or streach) it out the the rest of the way. It came on quick like sleeping on your shoulder one night and waking up with it. It however did not leave as quickly.

[johnzoomer]

One last note as reading through the comments of others. I used message therapy deep tissue to break it up (I forgot) yes it was painful while they were doing it but felt better afterwards.