Frozen Shoulder Treatment and Exercise Blog

When people are told that they have a frozen shoulder, they have many questions. Some people want to know what they have to do to get rid of it, others want to know how long it will take to get rid of it for good. Some however want to know how much therapy will be needed to eliminate the frozen shoulder. In other words, people want to know how many days a week will they have to commit to working on the elimination program.

While I would love to say there is a clear-cut answer to this, as always it depends. Much of this depends on a few different things. It will depend on what program the person is following? How bad the frozen shoulder is? What is the patient’s schedule like? Depending on those answers will influence just how many days in the week the program will have to be followed.

I have successfully treated people in as little as three days a week, and others I have treated for five days a week. Finally, some people can get away with doing a program twice a week too. Usually, a three-day a week program can be very successful with a days rest in-between each session.

I have found that people are most successful when their frozen shoulder programs have all of the essential components included in every session. It is always important that each area that needs to be addressed is worked on each time. For example, strengthening, range of motion exercises, and stretching need to be included in a well thought out program each day. By incorporating each of these aspects, a person can and will be much more successful and will not need to do more than two or three days a week.

Diagnosing frozen shoulder can be tricky. Although it is my feeling that most physicians can accurately classify this condition when they do a thorough exam, some people have symptoms of frozen shoulder and never realize that they do in fact have a frozen shoulder. Some physicians classify frozen shoulder when a person is limited in one area of range of motion, others only diagnosis it when almost all range of motion is compromised.

How can you tell if you have frozen shoulder? As I already said, the person in question shoulder always have their shoulder checked by a physician first. Shoulder injuries, and/or shoulder pain can lead to frozen shoulder, so it is important to do what is necessary to prevent it if you feel you are getting some of the symptoms associated with frozen shoulder. Many times, even a small shoulder injury can turn into a frozen shoulder. People with pain and/or a shoulder injury will stop moving their shoulder to help protect the area and help with healing. Over time, lack of movement can cause other problems such as adhesions, and knots, which will bind up the soft-tissue and decrease motion. Proper movement in the key in prevention. Stiffness can set in pretty quickly, and most people will see this as more reason not to move their shoulder. As time goes on, more pain and stiffness set in and more range of motion is compromised. It is an endless cycle many times.

If a person develops pain or has an injury to their shoulder, supervised movement should begin as soon as possible. Although there are times when complete immobilization is necessary, movement should begin as soon as it is safe to do so. A physical therapist, or physician will be the best person to know when the right time to start moving the shoulder should begin. Once you start to lose any kind of normal function or movement, you could be on your way to losing even more motion and function and this could be the beginning of a frozen shoulder syndrome. At this point the person needs to see a professional and get the shoulder moving safely to prevent any more lost function and movement from occurring.

When someone is diagnosed with frozen shoulder, one of the first things that goes through their mind is, “How did this happen anyway?” While every case is different and there are many causes for frozen shoulder, there are some common reasons that may lead to the development of this debilitating issue.

The main reason behind the development of frozen shoulder in most people is lack of movement. Usually, there is an injury or some kind of pain in or around the shoulder. As a protective measure, the person will stop using the arm and shoulder. Over time, this lack of movement causes stiffness, knots, adhesions in the joint and more pain. Soon, this will lead to a non-functioning shoulder and the person is classified with frozen shoulder syndrome. Although not everyone that has their shoulder immobilized will develop frozen shoulder, lack of movement is the common denominator.

Another issue that can cause a frozen shoulder to develop is certain muscles or muscle groups literally “turning off” and not working anymore. This can occur from injury and/or pain. When muscles do not work as they should, movement and function are compromised. Over time, the person looses the ability to move the shoulder through ranges of motion and more pain develops.

It should be obvious that many cases of frozen shoulder usually start off as something else, such as an injury and/or pain. This can lead the person to stop moving the shoulder or the shoulder just not working as it should. Many people think that they more “rest” they give the shoulder and arm, the better. Over time the person looses this waiting game and they find out that the longer they keep their arm and shoulder immobile the worse it actually can get. Finding a balance between rest and therapy is the key to preventing this from occurring. It is always advisable to seek out a physician or expert when you have an issue.

Frozen shoulder is a complex condition that plagues people every day. When people learn that they have a frozen shoulder, they scramble to find the best management. There are many different treatments that people have used to combat their frozen shoulder; however the ‘best’ treatment is to make sure the patient uses a multi-level protocol.

Using a multi-level treatment protocol means that the person is not focusing on one aspect only of dealing with the problems and symptoms, rather that they are dealing with all of the issues associated with their frozen shoulder. Treatments such as this will help cover all of the bases and allow proper motion, flexibility, strength and pain reduction, which will make certain that the frozen shoulder will be treated and eliminated much faster than not.

Frozen shoulder occurs for many different reasons and around different areas within the shoulder, so it is imperative that the person treats all of the symptoms and all of the areas that are involved. The message is that a person cannot just treat one thing and hope to eliminate their frozen shoulder. Patients that follow stretching only programs and do not have true success with their frozen shoulder treatment have demonstrated this many times.

To have true success is treating frozen shoulder, the patient must be sure to include a good, quality stretching protocol, as well as increasing strength, treating soft-tissue issues, and working on increasing range of motion in all directions. A well-planned, progressive treatment protocol that includes all of these components will ensure true success.

Many people erroneously think that only stretching will be enough to cure their frozen shoulder. While stretching is a very important aspect of any good frozen shoulder elimination program, it is only one component and true success is only derived when you combine stretching with other essential aspects.

Stretching is only part of the answer for eliminating frozen shoulder, but not the whole answer. It is important to realize that frozen shoulder is a very complex problem and there are many different things going on in and around your shoulder joint if you are suffering from frozen shoulder.

Besides stretching, proper strengthening of the shoulder joint and surrounding muscles is essential. While stretching will help increase range of motion of certain muscles and muscle groups, strengthening will enable the joint to move further through the range of motion, keeping the shoulder area strong and free of stiffness. Proper strengthening helps you to achieve greater range of motion in all directions because when the muscles and muscle groups are active and working properly, they will better be able to pull the arm through various directions and planes.

Another component that needs to be in every frozen shoulder elimination program, is quality soft-tissue work. The soft tissue consists of the muscles, tendons, ligaments and other connective tissue that is found in and around the joint. In people with frozen shoulder, this soft-tissue will shorten, form adhesions, knots and sticky scar tissues