frozen shoulder need advice

Hi there, welcome to the board.

I'm sorry to hear of your pain issues and I don't have any direct experience with shoulder issues so hopefully others will come along and share their thoughts.

No one here is a medical professional so we can't offer any specific medical advice...But it's a great group of folks who share suggestions and can offer empathy and support as we all know what it's like to live in chronic pain.

Is there a way you can find another shoulder specialist and get a "fresh set of eyes" on everything and offer some help? I would actually recommend this before trying anything like manipulation just to make sure that everything is ok from the surgery and it wouldn't be something actually harmful to you.

Thank you for your replys.  I am going to look for the book now.

Its really painful at night, gets so stiff thru the night, hard to move it in mornings.

I have considered looking for 2nd opinion but would have to go out of town. I do believe it is frozen shoulder from my research just want to know best way to deal with it and get past it.  Its scarey wondering if I do nothing will it stay like this forever.

Going to look up that book now.

Thank you.

I cannot offer help in that my Dx is bursitis with possible microtear in rotator cuff....I got a cortisone injection and was scheduled for pt, but my hip surgery popped up, postponing it. A flareup 2 weeks ago landed me back at the docs, a shoulder specialist (this is ALL he does), gave me another cortisone shot (it feels good, btw), and 4 weeks of PT, but if I do not show improvement he wants an MRI to see if that tear he's concerned about may be an issue.

I couldn't even lift the weight of a sheet at night, never mind moving blankets. I constantly bent my left elbow and held my left arm in my right hand trying to support it. Just the weight of my arm was painful. Getting dressed took forever,...skipped the pullovers.

Let us know how you do.

Best of luck to you.


Sookie

Purple,

The more you move it the faster it will heal. I had knee surgery and it froze up on me because I didn't move it as much as I needed too. My range of motion sucked but I threw myself back into sports, pushed through the pain and in about a week and a half the range of motion had greatly improved. I also used heat more then ice because for me ice increased my pain instead of decreasing it. I would do mini exercises in between your physical therapy ones. If you let it rest and not move it at all you will have more problems. With my knee they told me it freezing up and me not doing exercises means they would have to redo my surgery to remove the calcium/cartilage/ and other detritus build up. Keep at it and soon the range of motion will be back.

Try wall push ups[if you can handle them], opening/closing doors, doing dishes in the sink [bowls/glasses/other light dishware], putting dishes away and other menial small household tasks that require shoulder movement but don't require a lot of weight.

These are just from my experience with my knee and what ended up working for me. I hope you get better soon because I know how much my knee being mildly frozen sucked.

Morgan

I gave you the name of the book. Google "The Trigger Point Therapy Woorkbook Amazon" and it will come up.

We have trigger points throughout our bodies. You will find the trigger points for your shoulder are in your neck, upper. Hest wall, top and behind the shoulder and the back of the arm. Mthe book will show you where.

My shoulder would wake me from a sound sleep because it ached so badly then I couldn't get back to sleep. This worked for me. My doctor wanted to give me a cortisone shot in my shoulder and I declined and did this instead. It did take me about five months since I got better a little at a time. I started using my arm more and that's how I knew I was getting better. Before doing this, just reaching for something with the bad arm sent pain so sharp I thought I'd faint. Not anymore!

Sherrine

Thank you both for your reply.  I did order the book.

And thanks for the thoughts on manipulation. If it comes to that then I will for sure consider it. I am just so worn out and tired of all the PT and not being able to do the things I need to for work and just life in general.  It did wake me up at 3 am and I could not get back to sleep today. This is the worse medical issue I have ever had to deal with. UGH.

I am going to PT today.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

 

I agree, that despite the discomfort, the worst thing, in my opinion, is doing nothing at all. It may heal, alright, but it will heal in a scarred and incorrect position, possibly setting you up for something worse in the future.

Trigger point is absolutely wonderful, and I agree, highly beneficial! Definitely worth the work.

Best of luck.


Sookie