1.Get Diagnosed

2. Use a Comprehensive Frozen Shoulder Program

You want to find a program that includes: Strengthening, Stretching, Range of Motion work, and Soft Tissue work to eliminate adhesions and knots which are restricting your movement.

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A solid frozen shoulder treatment plan will not only get rid of your frozen shoulder but keep it from coming back. Frozen shoulder does come back. I just had an email exchange with a new client and it was the 3 time that she had frozen shoulder (in the same shoulder everytime).

When I started asking her questions about the program that she had used prior to becoming one of my clients I discovered that she had never done any soft tissue work for her shoulder and had only done a little bit of strengthening. Her program mostly consisted of stretching. If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know that stretching is not enough to get rid of frozen shoulder.

Most people don’t know a lot about the soft tissue part of treatment. Go here to see my 90 seconds to frozen shoulder pain relief where I show you exactly how to put soft tissue work to work for you.

Common reasons for doing this are because your should is in a sling, perhaps you have injured your shoulder, or you might be recovering from surgery. When you stop moving your shoulder joint, things called adhesions form and prevent your from moving your shoulder through a normal range of motion. So it is sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. Stop moving your shoulder and adhesions form so that you can’t move your shoulder.

Watch the video below to learn more and hear my entire answer.

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The good news is that the answer is YES! Watch the video below to see what you need to focus on doing to prevent frozen shoulder from happening. This is also really important if you had frozen shoulder, got rid of it, and now you are worried that it might come back again.

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Here’s a quick recap of the 3 things you need to do to prevent frozen shoulder

1. Keep Your Shoulders Strong
2. Specific and Proper Stretching Routines
3. Proper Range of Motion Activities

If you are looking for instant pain relief make sure to check out my ‘tennis ball trick’ video. It’ll have you pain free in 90 seconds or less. Click here to gain access to the video.

Treatment of frozen shoulder is commonly utilized to alleviate pain and symptoms and restore mobility in the arm  that it is affecting. It is usually a lengthy condition that has a time span from start to finish of about 2 1/2 years. Mainly doctors concentrate on treating it, because there is no cure for frozen shoulder indefinitely. However, certain treatments can relieve the patient in such a high-standard that they do not experience symptoms and feel like they have conquered their frozen shoulder with a cure. Most people are unaware that frozen shoulder surgery is not their only option of treatment, and that often surgery hinders and results in a longer recovery for what may have been already be relieved.

There is a large assortment of treatments that are commonly recommended for frozen shoulder. They are all dependent on the severity of the condition, the preference of the patient, and the recommendations of the doctor. However, they are more effective when combined in most situations. The first treatment a physician will refer is that the individual begin anti-inflammatory medications to see if it will lessen the pain. When the pain level is higher the doctor may give steroidal injections or prescribe oral steroids to help with the stiff shoulder that frozen shoulder is known for. Also most medical professionals will encourage the patient to get physical therapy and to exercise in the comfort of home using gentle stretching exercises.

Often treating physicians try to avoid surgeries for frozen shoulder, because surgeries can worsen the condition as well as expose the individual to many unnecessary risks and recovery. With the majority of options available to the frozen shoulder syndrome sufferer, surgery should be decided upon only in the worst of situations. There are efficient and effective treatments for adhesive capsulitis that work just as well if not better than frozen shoulder surgery. Recovery is imminent from this syndrome,however it is the endurance that makes people resort to evasive surgeries for immediate relief. It should be understood that this type of surgery does not supply complete resolve of the problematic ailment. It takes months to recover from surgery, and often it can be a detriment in what would have already subsided.

Most times frozen shoulder surgery is rarely recommended, and only in the most crucial situations does a doctor perform surgery for the condition. This is because adhesive capsulitis can be treated thoroughly will less evasive techniques and methods and there is no guarantee that the surgery will improve or cure the ailment.  The most successful techniques used to treat frozen shoulder are not commonly surgical procedures, and a very good physician will tell you this in all honesty. He or she will also explain all of the options that you have in regards to frozen shoulder treatment, and they will inform, educate, and provide you with the essential options that are best for your unique circumstances. So if you have been diagnosed with frozen shoulder you can discuss all of these elements with the physician who is directly treating you.

Here’s more info on the study.

Results:The improvement in the range of motion after arthroscopic capsular release was considerable and statistically significant (p<0.05) compared to pre-operative values both intraoperatively and after a minimum of two years of follow-up in both groups and across all planes of movement tested. The improvement of function of the shoulder after a minimum two years following arthroscopic capsular release was significant (p<0.05) according to the Constant-Murley score (from 19.3 preoperatively to 65.9 postoperatively, 0-75) and the ASES score (from 22.8 preoperatively to 92.7 postoperatively, 0-100).

Conclusions: Arthroscopic capsular release significantly improved the range of motion and function in idiopathic and posttraumatic frozen shoulder.

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.

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