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Unraveling the mystery – and misery – of frozen shoulder

One day you’re fine, and the next you are struck by excruciating shoulder pain – the kind that takes your breath away. Then comes the first of many sleepless nights. Welcome to mysterious and miserable world of frozen shoulder. The clinical name for frozen shoulder is adhesive capsulitis, and the condition can literally develop overnight. The lining (capsule) of the shoulder becomes inflamed and stiff, causing shooting pain with certain arm movements. Eventually, the shoulder “freezes” or becomes immobile for a few months to a year or longer.

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Featured

 Adhesive Capsulitis: A Sticky Issue

The shoulder is a very complex joint that is crucial to many activities of daily living. Decreased shoulder mobility is a serious clinical finding. A global decrease in shoulder range of motion is called adhesive capsulitis, referring to the actual adherence of the shoulder capsule to the humeral head. Adhesive capsulitis is a syndrome defined as idiopathic restriction of shoulder movement that is usually painful at onset.

 Frozen out

For five months my wife, 71, has had a frozen shoulder. She has tried physiotherapy and acupuncture to no great effect, and has had a few injections and been prescribed painkillers and sleeping pills. Can she do anything else?

 Frozen shoulder is a real condition—and it mostly affects women

The painful affliction known as adhesive capsulitis can last for years—but has long been ignored by medical researchers who doubted its existence. New treatments may finally promise a cure.

Articles of Interest

Frozen shoulder: making choices about treatment

The Cochrane Review brings together the evidence from 32 trials with 1836 people. None of the trials compared the treatments with placebo (a dummy, or inactive, treatment) or with doing nothing. The review shows that a combination of manual therapy and exercise, compared with glucocorticoid injection, probably results in less improvement at seven weeks and a similar number of adverse events...

What's the difference between a frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis

The term frozen shoulder has been around since the early 1930s. But recent research has been able to show that every stiff, painful shoulder isn't necessarily a true "frozen shoulder." You've heard the alternate term for this problem: adhesive capsulitis. According to the authors of a recent review, frozen shoulder and adhesive capsulitis are not the same things. What's the difference?

Adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder: review of pathophysiology and current clinical treatments

Adhesive shoulder capsulitis, or arthrofibrosis, describes a pathological process in which the body forms excessive scar tissue or adhesions across the glenohumeral joint, leading to pain, stiffness and dysfunction. It is a debilitating condition that can occur spontaneously (primary or idiopathic adhesive capsulitis) or following shoulder surgery or trauma (secondary adhesive capsulitis).

How to release a frozen shoulder: 5 stretches to use

Simple activities can be impossible when you have a frozen shoulder. But what is a frozen shoulder, exactly?

The Claim: Diabetes Can Lead to ‘Frozen Shoulder’

THE FACTS Shoulder problems are not what come to mind when most people think of diabetes. But studies have found a link between both types of diabetes and this mysterious shoulder condition, which occurs in three stages: weeks of inexplicable shoulder pain, followed by months of “frozen” stiffness and restricted motion, and then finally a “thawing” stage in which motion gradually returns.

The MSK Playbook: Frozen Shoulder

Frozen shoulder is associated with significant disability during the acute and post-acute phases. Patients can often present to various primary care clinicians – general practitioners, first contact practitioners, or practice-based physiotherapists, depending on local staffing and resources. This is a challenge for the early diagnosis and management of frozen shoulder, as not all primary care services have the capacity to offer regular reviews and continuous rehabilitation alongside potential injection therapies.

Resources

7 stretching & strengthening exercises for a frozen shoulder

Always warm up your shoulder before performing your frozen shoulder exercises. The best way to do that is to take a warm shower or bath for 10 to 15 minutes. You can also use a moist heating pad or damp towel heated in the microwave, but it may not be as effective.

World Frozen Shoulder Clinic

We are constantly refining our techniques, which has led to some innovative breakthroughs to improve patient comfort during this life-changing shoulder manipulation.

Physiopedia

As this is a hotly debated topic within the scientific literature, with many names in common use, we will be referring to this condition as Frozen Shoulder. Frozen Shoulder, often referred to as Adhesive capsulitis (AC), is characterized by initially painful and later progressively restricted active and passive glenohumeral (GH) joint range of motion with spontaneous complete or nearly-complete recovery over a varied period of time.

StatPearls

Adhesive capsulitis, also known as frozen shoulder, is an inflammatory condition characterized by shoulder stiffness, pain, and significant loss of passive range of motion. Long-term disability has been reported at ten to twenty percent in patients, and the persistence of symptoms at thirty to sixty percent.