The Stiff or “Frozen” Shoulder
Although not related to the cold weather of winter, I thought it would be helpful to discuss a common shoulder problem known as “adhesive capsulitis” or “frozen shoulder.” Frozen shoulder most often affects people between the ages of 40 and 60 and is more common in women. Normal shoulder function depends on pain-free, fluid, and unrestricted motion of the joint. As such, patients afflicted with frozen shoulder can be significantly debilitated with everyday activities such as work, recreation, and sleep impacted. Though the cause of frozen shoulder is not clearly understood, there are certain known risk factors. Below we’ll delve into the symptoms, risk factors, and possible treatment options for frozen shoulder.
Symptoms
Frozen shoulder results from thickening of the tissue that surrounds and stabilizes the shoulder joint making it tight and difficult to move. The tissue may also become significantly inflamed and or irritated making motion of the shoulder painful. Frozen shoulder often follows three predictable phases each with slightly different symptoms as outlined below.
•A dull ache and onset of worsening pain during the first stage (“freezing phase”).
•A slight reduction in pain during the second stage (“frozen phase”) where the shoulder becomes significantly stiff with very little mobility in the shoulder.
•A slow return to normal and pain-free motion in the shoulder in the final stage (thawing phase).
Each phase may last from a few weeks to several months with the complete course of the condition lasting for 18-24 months.
Risk Factors
There are certain factors that can make a person more likely to develop frozen shoulder. These includes:
•Diabetes
•Thyroid dysfunction (hypo- or hyperthyroidism)
•Parkinson’s disease
•Cardiac disease
•Immobility. If a person becomes immobile for a period of time, usually do to a surgical procedure or injury, then their risk for developing frozen shoulder increases.
Treatment
The most common treatment for frozen shoulder is non-surgical with the aim to reduce irritation and pain in the shoulder and then slowly regain full motion through gentle stretching exercises.
Common treatment methods include:
•Anti-inflammatory medicine
•Steroid injections
•Physical Therapy – both home stretching and office-based treatments
In rare cases where non-surgical treatment fails to resolve the condition, surgery is generally very successful at restoring full shoulder function. The procedure is done athroscopically, or through tiny incisions, and involves gentle manipulation of the shoulder with the patient anesthetized as well as release or cutting of any tight scar tissue around the shoulder.
I cling on to listening to the news broadcast talk about receiving free online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you tell me please, where could i get some?
Whats Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve discovered It positively helpful and it has aided me out loads. I’m hoping to give a contribution & assist other customers like its helped me. Good job.
I don’t even know how I stopped up right here, but I thought this submit used to be great. I don’t realize who you’re however certainly you are going to a famous blogger should you aren’t already. Cheers!|
Hi, I do think this is an excellent site. I stumbledupon it 😉 I’m going to revisit once again since i have bookmarked it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help other people.|
Hey very nice blog!|
I love it when people get together and share thoughts. Great website, stick with it!|
Hola! I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the fantastic work!|
Hello.This article was really remarkable, especially because I was investigating for thoughts on this matter last Thursday.
Thanks for every other informative site. Where else may I get that type of information written in such an ideal approach? I’ve a project that I’m just now operating on, and I have been on the glance out for such information.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays.|
I reckon something truly interesting about your site so I bookmarked .
Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do some research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I’m very glad to see such excellent info being shared freely out there.
I am always searching online for ideas that can aid me. Thanks!
I wanted to post a comment so as to say thanks to you for these superb facts you are giving out here. My considerable internet lookup has at the end been rewarded with good quality knowledge to talk about with my family. I ‘d admit that we visitors are really blessed to dwell in a fine site with very many awesome people with very helpful things. I feel rather privileged to have seen your entire website page and look forward to many more fun minutes reading here. Thank you once again for a lot of things.
Hi there, I enjoy reading through your article. I wanted to write a little comment to support you.|
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after checking through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Anyways, I’m definitely delighted I found it and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!|
Hi there colleagues, how is everything, and what you wish for to say on the topic of this paragraph, in my view its truly awesome designed for me.|
I’m not sure where you are getting your information, but good topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for excellent information I was looking for this information for my mission.
Excellent beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe for a blog web site? The account aided me a acceptable deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast provided bright clear concept
Hello, Neat post. There’s a problem with your site in internet explorer, would test this¡K IE still is the marketplace leader and a big component of other people will leave out your magnificent writing due to this problem.