Frozen Shoulder

YourSpine Centre Info SiteConditions SymptomsFrozen Shoulder

Suffering from a Frozen Shoulder?

Once you suffer from frozen shoulder syndrome, that’s when you realize how important your shoulders are. Just like the name, frozen shoulder is a condition where your shoulder and arm movement is completely lost.

Medically, frozen shoulder is called Adhesive Capsulitis.

Causes of Frozen Shoulder

  • Trauma
  • Injury
  • Myocardial infarction
  • Upper torso surgery e.g. shoulders surgery
  • Lack of exercise.

Basically, the shoulders become motionless and immobile to the point where the patient is not able to move their arm. This results in pain which if not addressed May even progress causing adhesions in the joints and consequently total immobility and increased pain. Frozen shoulder syndrome is more inclined to women than to men.

Signs and Symptoms of Frozen Shoulder

The symptoms are manifested in 3 phases:

1. Freezing phase

This phase involves limitations of all shoulder movements. The patient experiences pain in trying to stretch the arm. This may last from 2 to 9 months.

2. Frozen phase

At this stage, the joint fluids start to thicken, pain increases and the movement becomes more restricted than in the previous phase. This may last as from 4 to 12 months.

3. Thawing phase

Here the inflammation starts to subside. The shoulder may begin to recover but may not recover completely if no treatment is taken. This may last for any period of 6 to 9 months.