Frozen Shoulder “Stiffness”

Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis is a condition that causes pain due to the thickening of the shoulder joint capsule. The stiff bands or adhesions that develop over age also leads to stiffness of shoulders. The condition is most prevalent in women and diabetics in between the age of 40-60 years. It occurs in three stages – freezing, frozen and thawing. The freezing stage includes eventual worsening of the pain leads to movement loss for 6-9 weeks.

The frozen stage includes improved pain but continues stiffness for 4-6 months. The thawing stage includes improved shoulder movements in a time of 6 months to 2 years.

Causes

• Shoulder arthritis
• Bone spurs

Symptoms

• Severe pain
• Limited movement
• Stiffness

Diagnosis

• X-Rays (to detect arthritis)
• MRI (to detect soft tissue or rotator cuff injuries)

Treatment

Non-surgical treatments

Painkillers: Painkillers like codeine and paracetamol aids in reducing pain. Based on the severity of the condition, your orthopedist may also prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). With NSAIDs, both pain and inflammation of your shoulder will get in control.

Shoulder exercises: With help of simple shoulder exercises, your doctor will try to reverse the stiffness of the shoulder. The promote complete shoulder movement. However, one should do these exercises regularly.

Physiotherapy: It includes light exercises and some pain-reducing methods like TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), cold or hot compression packs, etc. TENS help to numb your spinal cord nerves that control pain.

Corticosteroid: Steroid injections or hormones are used to reduce pain, discomfort, and swelling of the shoulder. The orthopedist will inject the steroid injections close or into the shoulder joint. However, you shouldn’t take an overdose of these injections as it may damage your shoulder movements permanently.

Surgical treatment

When non-surgical treatments do not come to help, an orthopedic specialist will recommend surgery. The process starts with injecting local anesthesia and shoulder manipulation where the surgeon tries to move the shoulder joint gently.

Shoulder Arthroscopy is performed as key-hole surgery. It is considered as the minimally invasive shoulder surgery. The surgeon will make a small cut in the shoulder joint and inserts an endoscopic tube to remove scar tissue and adhesions.

It is strictly recommended you go through the rehabilitation process of 12-16 weeks after the surgery to ensure complete healing of your shoulder.