Frozen shoulder can actually be treated successfully or eliminated faster than many people think. For some, it can take less than a month if the patient is committed to following a progressive and aggressive program, completing all of the exercises and being consistent with their program. For others, it may take a little longer…again, depending on how bad the specific issues are and how long they have had the symptoms. It is important to realize that many people have been in treatment for their frozen shoulder for years and some have never found a successful treatment plan and live with the limitations of this problem for the rest of their lives.

While one to three months is much better than a year and always better than a lifetime, most people are anxious to get rid of their frozen shoulder faster. While I believe that in many people a frozen shoulder “cure” can be fast, it is very important to understand that frozen shoulder is an extremely complex issue and speeding up the rate of a full recovery can only happen if there is a solid plan followed. Many people will start to see some symptoms go away rather quickly, and while this is a good thing, it is important not to stop the plan or program at this point. Some people have made the mistake of stopping their treatment after their shoulder starts to feel better, thinking that they are on the road to a full recovery. However, to have real, long-term success the person must continue and finish the program in its entirety.

Massage techniques, when done correctly, help to work on soft-tissue restrictions that have developed in and around the shoulder. There are many different massage techniques that can and will help loosen up the soft-tissue limitations, increase range of motion, eliminate pain and bring back normal function to the shoulder. Combining good soft-tissue work with strengthening, range of motion exercises, and a good stretching program is the key to long term and fast success with frozen shoulder.

Muscles, tendons, ligaments, and other connective tissue are all part of the soft-tissue that surrounds a joint. When someone is suffering from frozen shoulder, some and many times all of this soft-tissue becomes tight, forming contractures, spasms, knots and other restrictions that limit range of motion, cause pain and decrease function. Working on these areas with targeted massage techniques is a sure way to speed up the recovery of frozen shoulder. It is important to always incorporate some kind of soft tissue work into the frozen shoulder program to address these issues. Massage is a great way to do this. It is important however, to make sure the massage therapist understands frozen shoulder and what to work on and why. Many people have learned how to perform their own soft-tissue work in the comfort of their own home pretty easily with the same good outcomes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

How can you tell if you have frozen shoulder? As I already said, the person in question should 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.
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Frozen shoulder pain can be debilitating. In this article we’re going to look at what causes frozen shoulder, how you would get diagnosed with frozen shoulder, and what your options are if you have pain from frozen shoulder.

First, what is frozen shoulder? Frozen shoulder is acutally nothing more than chronic shoulder stiffness. Anatomically the stiffness is between the humerus (upper arm bone) and scapule (shoulder blade). Frozen shoulders can come on after a period of disuse of the arm. A frozen shoulder can also come on for no apparent reason at all. Frozen shoulders can be particularly severe in individuals with diabetes.

According to the University of Washington Department of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine there are three different areas that used to diagnose frozen shoulder:

A. History

1. Functionally significant restriction of shoulder motion

2. Absence of history of previous major shoulder injury or surgery

B. Physical examination

1. Limited glenohumeral motion in all directions

C. Radiographs

1. No changes in cartilaginous joint space

2. Absence of pathological changes other than osteopenia

If you have frozen shoulder then you have a couple different options in regard how to get rid of it. You can get surgery. This is neccessary in about 20% of cases. That means that 80% of the time your don’t need surgery to get rid of frozen shoulder. So what do you do instead of surgery? There are different exercises you can do and specific techniques that you can use to loosen up your shoulder joint. While this may sound complicated, if you have proper guidance, it is pretty simple and can be done in your own home (Note: Here is where you can find a video showing you a simple way to get instant relief from your frozen shoulder pain).

To wrap things up. Frozen Shoulder is another way of describing chronic stiffness of the shoulder. There are specific criteria in regards to your medical history, shoulder movement, and radiograph findings that if met would give you the official ‘frozen shoulder’ diagnosis. You don’t always need surgery to get rid of frozen shoulder, instead you can use exercises and soft tissue (i.e. massage techniques) to stop pain and gain motion back in your shoulder.