Frozen Shoulder - Capsular release operation and impact on golf

Canfordhacker

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I've been suffering from from frozen shoulder for several months, but fortunately it hasn't impacted my golf. Prognosis is that it should self heal, but may take two years. However pain/motion range is getting worse and starting to limit my golf swing and sleep - so I'm considering an arthroscopic capsular release surgery.

Anybody got any experience of this, and in particular the success and recovery times? I'm due to play Royal Birkdale 6 weeks today and Celtic Manor shortly after...
 

huds1475

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I had the operation in May. Condition was rated as severe by Surgeon - I made it so by trying to play through it.

Operation is quite invasive and, post op, it's rated as the most painful. I had a general as I'm a coward and it was two weeks before I could think about starting work again.

The recovery is ongoing and I've had a lot of Physiotherapy / Hydrotherapy. Was able to play golf 8 weeks or so after operation.

I'd say I'm at about 60-70 % in terms of regained motion, with some elements better than others but only slight aching day after golf and on waking. It may never get back to 100% but I'm determined to try.

If I had any advice for you I'd say....

1. You need to commit hard to Op & Post op. You don't just wake up and everything's working again. Expect physio to be hard/painful and be prepared to commit to a lot of time doing excercises at home

2. Don't make it worse by delaying treatment.

3. Plan for being hit hard in the 2 weeks after op, local anaesthesia option might be different.

Appreciate that might all sound from, but it's the reality. The payoff is that I can now sleep, dress myself, function normally and play golf :)

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 

Dando

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my left shoulder is pretty buggered at the moment and getting worse - I have got early signs of arthritis, a bone spur and Bursitis.

I went to the driving range yesterday and could just about get the club horizontal so after about 15 balls I went home.

I am due to have physiotherapy at the end of September and if there is no improvement then I'll need an op!
 

HampshireHog

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Screwed my shoulder up lifting bikes last week. Been on a mixture of pain releif and muscle relaxant ever since, not the first time this has happened so getting checked out Friday. Certainly I’d recommend getting your GP to prescribe the relaxant in order to get enough movement to sleep.

I should have also mentioned it took about 9 months to self heal last time although the pain never really affected my golf swing negatively. If anything I slowed my swing down and hit it straighter:unsure:.
 
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Canfordhacker

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Hmmmm. Cheers for the input guys.
Huds - yours sounds worse than mine. I didn't believe local was an option, I was told general. Advice to commit is good.
Dando - I was advised by consultant not to bother with physio (following my diagnosis), and that made sense since the previous two months had made no difference and only flummoxed the physios. I was suprised they hadn't diagnosed it.
Hog - GP just wanted to move me onto consultant (as I have medical insurance). Relaxant sounds good!

Any thoughts re steroid injections?
 

huds1475

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Cortisone just took the edge off the pain for me.

Is worth a try, it might save you surgery.

If it doesn't sort at least you narrow down your options :)

If you need to reach out you can always PM me :)
 

Dando

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I had a cortisone injection about 4 years ago and it was the worse pain I have ever experienced and made me throw up.
 

Hobbit

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I had 2 cortisone injections about 12 years ago. Maybe I got lucky with both, I hardly felt a thing. Its not perfect by any means but to be fair it was pretty badly mashed. Still gets a little stiff now I'm playing two/three times a week, sometimes on consecutive days. I manage this by doing the exercises I've been given by a number of physios down the years - I sometimes book several sessions when things are uncomfortable.

All I would say is do as you're told. My consultant told me that the recovery was my responsibility, and that I had to follow exactly what the physio said. No short cuts, especially by overdoing the exercises.
 

Andy

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Had my shoulder released in January, best thing I ever done. 3 1cm key hole incisions and the job was done. Mine was particularly bad I was told by the surgeon, resulting from type 1 diabetes but healed in no time.

Golfed at the range 2 weeks post op with little pain compared to pre operation.

Get it booked, only way to sort it out. One good thing for pain and helping the range of movement I found was neuromuscular massage, very effective.
 

sev112

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Got my frozen shoulder exactly this time last year. After many years of back pain I thought I knew about pain, but that shoulder trumped it all.

Had physio from Sept to Jan associated with 3 lots of stretching every day. Just noticed one morning that it had gne

Physio was pressurepoint with fingers which was amazing, and a little bit of acupuncture, which was freaky but even more amazing.

Good luck , hope it works out for you
 

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