One of the most common conditions I treat as a physiotherapist. So, if you are someone who suffers from frozen shoulder, be rest assured, you are not alone. It is treatable and full recovery is possible.
What is Frozen Shoulder:
As its name suggests, frozen shoulder is a stiff shoulder joint or inability to move shoulder joint as before. There can be minimal to complete loss of range. Usually, it starts with painful initial stage and then goes on to being stiff or frozen.
Stages of Frozen Shoulder:
Stage 1: which is the initial phase where it is very painful and produces pain with movement. In this stage most of the patients complain of disturbed sleep and pain at night. Loss of external rotation is common with intact strength. This stage is usually last 3 months,
Stage 2: Freezing Stage: As the name suggests, everything gets frozen here. This stage can typically last up to 9 months which will have increased pain with all range of motion and even at rest.
Stage 3: Frozen Stage: The entire shoulder is frozen so no pain at night or at rest. Patients do complain of disturbed sleep if they sleep on the painful shoulder. In this stage patient feels pain only with movement and will have weakness with different muscle group like biceps, triceps, rotator cuff and deltoid. This stage can last up to 15 months.
Stage 4: Thawing stage: Here the patient starts getting better and has minimal pain and the range of motion improves slowly. This stage can last up to 24 months.
Common symptoms:
- Night pain or disturbed sleep in acute phase or early stage of disease
- Increased pain with movement or use of shoulder joint
- Pain at rest in early phase of disease
How to diagnose frozen shoulder:
Some exercises you should be doing when you have frozen shoulder:
