Interesting to hear the range of experiences. I hurt my rotator cuff (swimming) and did PT. The minute PT released me, the frozen shoulder set in. Started PT again and it just kept getting worse. Had a cortisone shot and that fixed most of it. Had one more and it hasnt hurt since. ButI still don’t have full range back. Kept doing PT for awhile but it just wasn’t helping and was so expensive so I stopped. I still continue to do exercises at home but I think this is just my new normal. It’s been a hear and a half since the injury and my shoulderjust has a place it won’t go.

My uncle had this and I know he had a lot of quick relief with heating pads. I don't remember how long it lasted altogether but definitle not years but more like few weeks.

This might be a good starting point for you, Havard publication:

How to release a frozen shoulder

Frozen shoulder (also called adhesive capsulitis) is a common disorder ... You can also use a moist heating pad or damp towel heated in the ...

https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/how-to-release-a-frozen-shoulder

Good luck!

Dr. Bernstein at Summit Orthopedics in Friendship Heights helped me so much with this. He knows exactly where to give a cortisone shot.

It is very common in diabetics. You can have it without being diabetic, but diabetics are especially susceptible to it.

I have had it twice. First time cortisone shot was a miracle cure. Second time--on other arm a long time later---it did nothing.

It took a full year and a half for it to go away for me. Got full range of motion back the first time. Second was less painful, but I did not recover full range of motion.

Anonymous wrote:I got a shot of cortisone into the joint (outside the joint didn't work). That helped SO MUCH! I didn't do PT and it came back when the cortisone wore off, but I was able to fix it myself by lifting weights and stretching it. Yes, the stretching hurt, but I just do a bit each day. I have 90% of my range of motion back and the weights are helping me strengthen it.

+1

Cortisone shots

Longer term, research thus condition’s linkage to magnesium deficiency. Start taking magnesium every day.

Currently going through PT with a rotator cuff issue. I was given an exercise where I lean over, brace myself with the other arm (I use the arm of a couch) and hold a 5lb weight with the affected arm, and let my arm swing front to back and then side to side like a pendulum. I do that before I do my arm up the wall crawls. It sort've warms up the arm for the wall I think.

I've had pretty good results so far with the PT. Good luck everyone.

This is me now. Been having issues since last fall and diagnosed with Frozen shoulder in January. It it the most painful thing I have ever experienced (and I’ve been through surgeries, childbirth, car accidents). Was going to PT before COVID and now trying to stretch and do PT at home. Every time I try and walk my fingers up the wall I want to cry.

Please — let there be more stories of folks who had this and it just suddenly goes away. I’ve seen two specialist and they say it will get better but it’s hard to have faith at this point.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone here been diagnosed with frozen shoulder? How painful was it for you, especially trying to sleep, and how long did it take for it to correct itself? I am in so much pain I want to throw myself into traffic. I don't think I can take any more otc meds as now my stomach is a mess. I've had steroid shots and can begin PT in several weeks. Any advice or info on what I can expect?

Yes. Between seven and four years ago I was diagnosed once with adhesive capsulitis in each shoulder. Two different activities caused it. Sports injuries, my own poor judgment.

Oddly enough, neither time was the injury that caused it as painful as moving too fast or the wrong way until I "learned" the acceptable range of motion. Putting on a shirt or a sweater was an adventure. Moving slowly, deliberately helped.

Trying to sleep the first few nights was a chore. Found by trial and error what worked for me. Remember propping self in a particular position that "worked best." By and large I wasn't in pain unless I "violated" my temporarily range of motion. Never needed to pop anything stronger than a low dose aspirin. People differ.

If you are in Northern Virginia I recommend Daniel Weingold, MD of Ortho Virginia at their Burke location. They have ten? locations across No Virginia and several downstate. They also have several "urgent care" "walk-in" centers, for example at Inova Fair Oaks Hospital. From experience its Saturday walk-in center is superb.

Most likely a Physician's Assistant will screen you. The orthopedist will see you if medically necessary.

The first time around, I went to twelve PT sessions. It helped some, or maybe it was a mental placebo that helped because I was told it would. The second time around I skipped it. Recovered just as well, just as fast without the PT. Your situation sounds different than mine.

You should not be in so much pain you can't sleep, nor be at the outer edge of what otc meds can handle. If you are in Virginia determine the closest Ortho Virginia urgent care center and walk in during their evening or Saturday hours.

After four or five months the "larger" discomfort abated. No pain if I moved within limits. My take was if I had to have an orthopedic injury this was the one to have. At around 8 months I could go back to restricted resistance training.

Dr. Weingold told me it goes away in a year, treated or not. Almost to the day, both times he was correct.

If you aren't in Virginia find a group orthopedic practice with Saturday hours or go to an urgent care center. Don't continue to suffer as though you have no options because you do.

I have one now. It's painful, but I'm able to sleep. My massage therapist was working on it. Now that we are stuck inside I have been doing some exercises from YouTube.

OP - it will heal. It will heal in a little over 12 months, completely, whether you do anything or not. Nothing will make is heal faster, not physical therapy, not any particular exercises. Don't do any motion that aggravates it, but otherwise, try to do as much normal motion as you can without it hurting.

One thing I learned from babying a knee injury and getting the knee equivalent of this is that (1) PT is the only thing that really works in the long term. Steroid shots are only temporary, and my doctor believed that they were counterproductive in the long run; and (2) you are going to be in pain -- avoiding pain is what got your joint messed up in the first place. Your instinct is to stop doing things that hurt, but that is how your shoulder got frozen. You've got to keep moving, even if it hurts.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone here been diagnosed with frozen shoulder? How painful was it for you, especially trying to sleep, and how long did it take for it to correct itself? I am in so much pain I want to throw myself into traffic. I don't think I can take any more otc meds as now my stomach is a mess. I've had steroid shots and can begin PT in several weeks. Any advice or info on what I can expect?

It won't resolve w/ out PT. Do NOT do surgery--it doesn't work and you will still need to do PT anyway. If you get a good therapist, you could heal your shoulder within a few months.

I was diagnosed with it a few months ago. The orthopedist just gave me a printout of some exercises to do. They didn't help and Im still in pain. Maybe I have a minor case though?

I got a shot of cortisone into the joint (outside the joint didn't work). That helped SO MUCH! I didn't do PT and it came back when the cortisone wore off, but I was able to fix it myself by lifting weights and stretching it. Yes, the stretching hurt, but I just do a bit each day. I have 90% of my range of motion back and the weights are helping me strengthen it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swimming is excellent for this. Your form will be pathetic to start out.

LOL, no. Not sure how you can swim with a frozen shoulder. You arm is literally frozen in place and there is no range of motion. You'd be swimming with one arm.

Crawl, backstroke, and butterfly very difficult, if not initially impossible. Breast stroke should be possible, albeit with initial difficulty. Also stroking under water in breast stroke type fashion.

maybe it depends on how badly you have it. when i had it, i'd have drowned in 10 sec.

This was me as well. I couldnt even get in and out of the pool it hurt so much - so if there was no sloped entrance I couldn't get out. There was no way I could do any strokes if I got in and if the water was cold forget it I would have drowned. For me PT helped a little but actually using the waterrower at the gym was the best thing for it in the long run.