Frozen shoulder - anyone any experience of this???

DelB

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Been suffering a sore left shoulder for months and months now and finally gave in to the pain and visited the docs yesterday. Was frightened that I would be told not to play golf for six months or something, but on the contrary, was encouraged to keep the joint moving, but to take Ibuprofen, Paracetamol and use Deep Heat on it too. They can refer me for Physio, but that can take up to four months even to get an initial assessment appointment, so may look into getting it seen to privately.

Anyone else suffered from this? How long does the pain last and how long till it gets better again? Doc was a bit vague on this yesterday.
 
Old Mr Sore Shoulders Andy will be along soon to tell you all about his pain, his cortisone injection, his massages.


Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz


:ears:
 
I've had it, in both shoulders at different times, horrible. Pain was terrible for any internal rotation i.e. wallet in the back pocket, putting a belt through loops or putting on a coat, wiping yer arse! Sleeping through the night was impossible - until I got sleeping pills off the GP and softened the mattress.

Its worth stumping up a bit a £ and going to see the most highly regarded sports osteopath in your area - make sure its a fella that has played some active sport, rugby etc. Ladies involved in this area rely too heavily on heat pads, electrolysis - the affected areas need to be physically pulled, stretched and pounded and be prepared for pain during treatment. A good osteopath will be able to tell you how long you've had it and approx how long it will take to put right. You'll be advised to stretch when its stiff and ice when its sore or aches (up to six times a day) You also need to rest the shoulder and may need a sling from time to time. Once the course starts, its all about your own commitment about doing the exercises. Little and often is the key.

Get on the web and get some Therabands for stretching, a couple of flexible gel packs for freezing or heating and some trunks for the swimming you'll have to do.

I managed to get my right shoulder (truly knackered through two weeks of knocking off render with a lump hammer that I never let recover until the completion of a house reno) functioning in two months when the normal course of recovery was put at 18 months. It was all physical effort, no electrolysis or pins and needles. Even know I can't fully release the club in the hitting area but its getting there.

The good news is that once you've had it, almost never returns to the same shoulder, the bad news is that if you've had it in one shoulder, you're likely to get in the other shoulder. Good luck and speedy recovery.
 
I've got 2 Derek :-( Diabetes being behind mine.

Done the same plan of action as you have. Biggest waste of time. Physio has made slight gains but anti inflammatories have been useless for myself.

Got a referal to an Orthopedic Surgeon who done the steroid injection in each shoulder. Limited to 3 injections though :-(

The injections deal with the pain (Very well) first then supposedly the range of movement returns. Im still waiting lol Was told that recovery can be anything upto 3 years but no guarantee full movement will happen.

I'm considering going under the knife at the tail of the season. Last resort but I cannot go on the way I am.

Best thing I have done is Neuro Muscular massage (Deep tissue). Since starting almost 10 weeks ago I've had to take pain killers a handfull of times compared to the daily 3 diclofenac, 800mg ibuprofen and numerous 30/500 co-codamol.

Have sent you a PM also.
 
Not personaly, but my misses had/has one.

Frozen shoulders can go as quickly as they come but have been known to last anything up to 7 years. She had the phisio and did excersises all to no avail. Steroid injections did the trick to start with, but after the third one she was told that they were getting less effective. She went to see a specialist (by the name of professor bunker) he sugested keyhole surgery to have a look and also perform a decompresion as he thought the tendons were also being trapped. This didn't work and put her out for another 6 months. She was then offered Hydrodilation, this is where a solution is injected into your shoulder to force the joints apart. The misses likened it to someone blowing up a balloon in your joint and it even popped. This was most sucsesful and she had 95% movement back within 48 hours. The shoulder still gets sore after golf but she still has 95 -100% movement in it.

Timescales, well this has been going on for just over 2 years and she's still not 100%. Each case is so different Del it could be months or years.
 
I was lucky to end up with a youngish doctor who was expert at injecting cortizone into the tendon. As he explained it to me the tendon has an outer sheath which if ruptured allows the inner lubricating fluid to leak out producing a dry surface ( similar to a lack of oil between two moving metal surfaces )
Anyway after a year being unable to raise my arm above shoulder height one injection cured the problem.
It might be pure luck that you see the right person. So fingers crossed for you.
PS He would never inject the tendons at the back of the shoulder as the outcome could be worse.
 
I have had a sore left shoulder for that last 3 weeks, I made an appointment at the local clinic today, they suggested I saw a chiropractor rather than their physiotherapist, se what he has to say on Friday, encouraging about not having to rest it.
 
Always amazing the multiplicity of different treatments for the (apparently) same thing :) best thing I had done wa acupuncture, was amazing. Mentally freaky but amazing
 
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