Patients in this  stage ideally by now have been clinically diagnosed by a competent doctor. Should they be fortunate enough, then his or her physician has sent them to a knowledgeable physical therapist who specializes in treating this disease. Even so, a lot are simply referred to the nearest therapy clinic and end up receiving the ordinary, common frozen shoulder treatment routines.  Pulley stretches, ice/heat, ROM exercise, etc… A certain amount of initial movement can be restored but at the cost of much pain. It is no surprise a large number of individuals quit going after a couple of agonizing appointments. Does anyone want spend time and money on some torture sessions that produce few results?

If you’re fortunate enough to be among the blessed few to get a physical therapist knowledgeable in treating frozen shoulder, then you’ll hopefully notice him or her say such phrases as “active release”, “accupressure”, and “joint mobilization”, to name a few. Otherwise,  my recommendation would be to look for such a professional who includes these kind of therapies in care plan, or else plan some painful exercise sessions along with attempts to coerce your  irritated shoulder into submission! Practicioners having good results treating this problem realize the extreme pain their patients are living through and procede with therapy in a significantly gentler way.

Can you expect pain with the treatments? Absolutely, however the discomfort will likely be minimal and an increase in mobility will likely be attained, possibly within the first few visits. A thourough professional will likely consider the patients’ priority functional objectives and then try to concentrate on these first. Attaining such functions as tucking a shirt tail in or fastening a bra clasp on the initial few appointments can do wonders for a patients’ outlook on life and upcoming treatment sessions. These types of functions may be accomplished without attaining complete range of motion even though this will be the end objective regarding any worthwhile plan of care.

In conclusion, helpful advice for anybody with frozen shoulder would be to perform their due diligence to find an experienced physical therapist that has experience and knowledge in treating frozen shoulder… Not only to achieve ROM, but to improve function and the quality of life the person is searching for.

What to do when no one is around???

Grab a tennis ball…

The firm but not so hard tennis ball provides and excellent way to work out local muscle spasms and helps to gain back some of that precious motion lost during the frozen shoulder process. The most common technique is to place the ball along side your deltoid or humerus (your upper arm bone). Then simply lean into the wall and slide up and down along the wall. This will be painful at first, however you can control how much pressure you apply. Try to gradually work up to a firm pressure and work this for about 5 minutes. The increased blood flow along the lateral deltoid will act as a pain suppressor temporarily and actually help you to get some range of motion back.

Remember this is only temporary and should only be used as an adjunct to your prescribed exercise or frozen shoulder treatment regimen.

Gentle Exercises For Frozen Shoulder
By Bob Downe

Deciding on exercises for frozen shoulder can be a lot easier if you visualize your shoulder as a necklace chain that has been knotted up. Let’s say that this chain is very tiny and delicate. You probably would not dream of picking that chain up and yanking on it to untangle it.

If you did, you might damage the chain, or even break it. You would probably be very gentle with it and lightly tug on each piece of the knot until it began to loosen up. Only after it was loose could you begin to untangle it.

Now, we all know that a frozen shoulder does not have knots in it; but, the same principle applies to freeing up frozen shoulder that does to freeing up a knot in a necklace. You need to choose exercises for frozen shoulder that are only easy, small movements that will just begin to tug on the tendons in the shoulder.

Keep up these small movements until you are able to, without pain, freely move your arms in small rotations. Then, and only then, should you progress to more strenuously exercise frozen shoulder.

Yoga is an exercise program that should be considered when searching for exercises for frozen shoulder. The good thing about yoga is that it involves easy, slow stretching movements that require you to focus on your body. This focus will help you to pay attention to your body and any pain that may come from the stretching.

Good exercises for frozen shoulder are shoulder circles. Starting out, you should only be doing small circles. Because of the pain, this will probably be just about all you can handle. Do your shoulder circles for just a few minutes a day on each shoulder and a few weeks should be all it takes to start the process of freeing up the shoulder.

Another good exercise is arm circles. To reduce the amount of pain associated with this exercise, it will be wise for you to lie on your opposite side. Now, take your hand and place it on your shoulder so that your elbow extends into the air. Rotate your elbow in very small circles. Do this for several minutes each day and soon you will start to see your shoulder begin to loosen, making it easier to make larger and larger circles. You can stick with circles, or you can try other shapes with your elbow, just as long as you are rotating the shoulder in the process.

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Now obviously physical therapy may not be for everyone, particularly those who have a low pain threshold. These individuals may opt for more passive treatments involving various modalities such as heat, ice, injections, manipulation, or possibly surgery. Thermal modalities such as moist heat and ice only provide short term relief and are considered “coping treatment” as the patient “waits out” there symptoms — which may never occur or may occur at a much slower pace. Injections are more or less masking the symptoms with anti-inflammatory medication and do not get to the root of the condition, which is loss of motion and function. Manipulation is a last resort option (other than capsular debridement) which can lead to significant shoulder trauma and possibility of humerus fractures. Surgical debridement is an invasive treatment which carries with it the risk of infection.

All of the above frozen shoulder treatment options should be researched by the patient so they can decide the on the one that best suits them. Obviously physical therapy is the most preferred treatment as it addresses pain, loss of function, and loss of strength alltogether. If PT is the chosen course of treatment, the patient should make sure they choose a therapist with experience in this area, or use a program designed by a licensed clinician with a specialty in treatments of the upper extremity.