Frozen shoulder? That’s how long recovery can take

A frozen shoulder has nothing to do with ice! It is simply a stiff and painful shoulder joint that is difficult to move. If you or an older family member is going through this, you need to know about the recovery time and treatment.

The shoulder consists of three bones that form a ball-and-socket joint consisting of the upper arm (humerus), shoulder blade (scapula) and collarbone (clavicle). The tissues surrounding the shoulder joint are called the shoulder capsule.

What is frozen shoulder?

Frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis (AC), is a persistent and painful shoulder condition that lasts for more than 3 months. This inflammatory condition causes fibrosis in the glenohumeral joint capsule and is often characterized by gradually progressive stiffness and significant limitation of range of motion (usually external rotation).

In the case of a frozen shoulder, the shoulder capsule becomes very thick and stiff, which hinders full range of motion. In addition, scar tissue forms in the joint and there is less lubrication due to the lack of synovial fluid to keep it lubricated.

What are the stages of frozen shoulder?

In most cases, recovery is achievable, although in some cases it may take up to 1 to 2 years. Frozen shoulder develops gradually in three stages, and each stage can last for several months.

These include:

• Freezing: Any movement of the shoulder causes pain and the range of motion becomes narrow.
• Frozen: In this stage, the pain may begin to subside. However, the shoulder stiffens and becomes more difficult to use.
• Warm-up: Shoulder range of motion begins to improve.

Diagnosing frozen shoulder

Medical history, physical examination, and imaging modalities are used to make a clinical diagnosis of frozen shoulder (exclusion of another condition rather than confirmation diagnosis of AC). Although the etiology of the condition is not yet fully understood, certain risk factors can help understand the complication of the condition and increase treatment options. These include:

How to treat a frozen shoulder?

Non-surgical treatment options for adhesive capsulitis (AC) include pharmacological treatment and physiotherapy.

Physiotherapy is very important to control pain and restore normal shoulder mobility. In some rare cases, if the improvement is very small, interventional methods such as intra-articular injections, joint manipulations under anesthesia or arthroscopic shoulder surgery are included, depending on the medical needs of the patient.