Frozen Shoulder

A frozen shoulder is medically referred to as adhesive capsulitus or contracted shoulder. The amount of movement in your shoulder joint will be reduced and in severe cases, you may barely be able to move your shoulder at all. This condition seems to be slightly more prevelent in females than males.

What causes a frozen shoulder?

Frozen shoulder often occurs with no explanation. Some people may develop a frozen shoulder after a traumatic injury, but this is not always the case. Frozen shoulder is caused when the tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint, known as the capsule, becomes inflamed and thickened. It is not fully understood why this happens, although there are a number of factors that may make you more likely to develop a frozen shoulder. These include:

Shoulder trauma or surgery, particularly following a sustained period of shoulder immobilisation
Age and you are most likely to develop a frozen shoulder between the ages of 40-60 years
Gender – females are more prone to suffering from a frozen shoulder than males
Endocrine disorders – people who have diabetics or thyroid problems are particularly at risk of suffering from a frozen shoulder.

What are the symptoms/effects of a frozen shoulder?

The symptoms/effects of a frozen shoulder may include:

Shoulder pain
Limited ability/tolerance to lay on the affected side
Restricted and painful shoulder movement such as reaching behind and up your back to fasten a brassiere or put on a coat
Limited range of motion of the shoulder joint

Pain on sudden, unplanned shoulder movements A frozen shoulder tends to have three phases:

Painful phase – Pain tends to be the biggest problem although you may also have some restriction of movement
Freezing phase – The pain will begin to ease but movement will become very limited
Thawing phase – Finally the shoulder loosens up and returns to normal with full movement.

It can take between 18 months to 2 years for all of these phases to occur. However, physiotherapy intervention can often help significantly to speed up this process as well as alleviating your pain.

How is a frozen shoulder diagnosed?

A frozen shoulder can be diagnosed on examination by a physiotherapist.

However, it is advisable that you visit your GP to request an X-ray to confirm that there are no other problems or causes for the shoulder pain.

Physiotherapy treatment for a frozen shoulder

At Cleethorpes Physio Clinic, our specialised physiotherapists are very experienced at assessing and treating people with a frozen shoulder. Our aim is to ensure you get your shoulder moving normally again so that you are able to continue with everyday activities with ease. Once we have helped you to reduce the pain and understand your condition, we can teach you effective ways to self-manage your rehabilitation without the need to attend multiple physiotherapy sessions. If a frozen shoulder is diagnosed early enough, physiotherapy treatment may work very effectively alongside a corticosteroid injection. You will need to discuss this with your GP or Consultant.

Physiotherapy treatment may include: