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I woke up one morning with bilateral adhesive capsulitis (BOTH shoulders were frozen) I couldn't even comb my
It took 18 months of heavy PT, cortisone injections and exercises
Interesting factoid: BAC is more common in menopausal women than men and bilateral is very rare
I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy
yes i've heard it is primarily women, in their 50s and 60s.
i work in healthcare and I just know from talking to clinicians across the board they all said do NOT get surgery as it has a very poor rate of success.
I had physical therapy twice a week for a few months, at which point I had seen some improvement but had also plateaued. Insurance wouldn't authorize any more sessions due to the minute changes, so I continued with some of the exercises on my own.
About two months later I started hearing crackling/crunching/popping (not painful) and the shoulder started freeing up on its own. That was almost 12 years ago and things are still fine.
I would definitely try a round of physical therapy.
glad to hear it went away and has stayed away. that is encouraging and hopeful. i do hear crunching and clicking and popping in that shoulder on movement (not painful). it sounds like from what people said that could be a good sign.
i was told to keep it active and moving, but stay away from causing pain.
For me it's PT, and yes, a NSAID as needed. One month of actual, painful therapy and several months of follow up exercises at home. I'm not quite back 100%, but I'm close. I think it helps that I have a job that doesn't allow much opportunity to baby my shoulder. There is a physical component to it that means I have to use my arms and shoulders frequently to lift and carry, which the therapist said would help speed up my recovery.
I did find it interesting that one night in bed, tossing and turning and trying to find a comfortable position, I felt a sort of ripping or tearing or 'breaking' sensation in my shoulder that caused much of the discomfort to simply go away. Similar to the kind of relief you get when a bothersome joint finally pops, a sudden pain followed by 'ahhhh, that feels better now'
yeah i was worried about my job being affected but was told dont baby the arm use it as much as possible so i have been doing that. i am still on computer most of the day at work, but moved the phone to the other side so use my other hand for phone. finding out it is common and does go away and i won't become a bag lady was reassuring.
glad to hear it went away and has stayed away. that is encouraging and hopeful. i do hear crunching and clicking and popping in that shoulder on movement (not painful). it sounds like from what people said that could be a good sign.
i was told to keep it active and moving, but stay away from causing pain.
That crunching and clicking could be arthritis aka crepitus. A commentator on the radio talks about how his whole body crunches/clicks --- I crunch a lot and it's arthritis and I believe that is a lot of the aging. I didn't have this in my years before 50.....
Mine eventually went away. Don't know how long it took (over a year). I tried a couple of days of physical therapy, but in the early days, it was just too painful to do it (kudos for you who could). While I was told by my physical therapist that lifting weights wouldn't help with it, I felt it did. When it was at its height, the amount of weight for my shoulder presses were probably 1/5th of the weight I could do with similar body parts. For a couple of years I completely abandoned doing shoulders. Then earlier this year I tried it again - - I was amazed at how much things had changed (now my shoulder presses are probably 4/5ths of my other exercises).
It really is a miserable condition. I used to sleep on my belly and would have my arm over my head - - I could get the deepest, soundest sleep in that position. Even with things getting considerably better for me from the worst part of my frozen shoulder, I still can't sleep that way like I used to. It has affected my quality of life in terms of sleep.
Mine eventually went away. Don't know how long it took (over a year). I tried a couple of days of physical therapy, but in the early days, it was just too painful to do it (kudos for you who could). While I was told by my physical therapist that lifting weights wouldn't help with it, I felt it did. When it was at its height, the amount of weight for my shoulder presses were probably 1/5th of the weight I could do with similar body parts. For a couple of years I completely abandoned doing shoulders. Then earlier this year I tried it again - - I was amazed at how much things had changed (now my shoulder presses are probably 4/5ths of my other exercises).
It really is a miserable condition. I used to sleep on my belly and would have my arm over my head - - I could get the deepest, soundest sleep in that position. Even with things getting considerably better for me from the worst part of my frozen shoulder, I still can't sleep that way like I used to. It has affected my quality of life in terms of sleep.
sleep has been the hardest and most painful. for the first 3 months i could only sleep sitting up. now i can sleep on my side some of the time with a bunch of pillows, but still waking up in pain every 1-2 hours and still not getting deep sleep.
yes i've heard it is primarily women, in their 50s and 60s.
i work in healthcare and I just know from talking to clinicians across the board they all said do NOT get surgery as it has a very poor rate of success.
Surgery is the last resort. Rehab on shoulders is a nightmare
My PT involved a lot of ultrasound, cold treatment, deep massage with movement and electrotherapy. Plus tuns of exercises at home with TheraBand, can goods, and a granddaughter that pilled my arms
My insurance only paid for 15 (I think) treatments a year and I had 4 days of therapy for 18 months. I was lucky that I worked for a PT supply company at the time and (with bosses approval) I traded supplies for therapy
I have a very low tolerance for pain, but HAD to fight through it because I was not going to live the rest of my live in severe pain
Physical therapy at The House of Pain. Really it was the wrong type of PT for me and I have since found more gentle and compassionate therapists.
I still have my printed out exercises and whenever I feel a bout coming on I get busy and do a tune up. (I know I should probably do them daily but it's not going to happen.)
I had physical therapy. I had to use a broom and push it up with my good arm while hanging onto it using the injured arm. That way I was raising and lowering the useless arm.
But even after that I still got pain when I tried to raise my arm above a certain level. My husband said it had to do with "the capsule" or something. He did something (painful) where he raised my arm and pressed or massaged the place where it hurt. It made me cringe with pain but after a few times, it worked and I had complete use of my arm and it has never hurt at all since then. My husband had some sort of training in this sort of thing, thank goodness, because the PT had left me only partially cured.
The dr had said it wasn't bad enough for surgery yet the PT didn't completely do the trick. But pushing through the pain with movement with my husband using pressure on my shoulder fixed it. I am so glad I never had to depend upon medication and am very thankful for the relief from that horrible pain!
Last edited by in_newengland; 04-08-2018 at 04:48 PM..
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