Frozen Shoulder in women

dorri

Last year, I had frozen shoulder for several months in my right shoulder. It went away, and it appeared in my left shoulder almost immediately after it went away on the right. The pain in my left shoulder was of a very short duration in comparrison to my right. My range of motion was severely limited. A very painful condition that I never want to experience again. I also had muscle atrophy in the shoulder and in the bicep muscles. (probably because I could not move them for quite some time) So far, so good, it hasn't returned and shouldn't. However sometime's one can have a torn rotator cuff which may feel like a frozen shoulder.

Josie115

I think there should be a whole main post area for shoulder problems. Oh my what pain!! In my case, I fell skiing last March and first, fractured the humerous at the greater tuberosity. Was in a sling for a couple of weeks..then pt. Had an mri done because it was still bad..the mri showed a slap 2, mild rotator cuff tears, adhesive capsulitis, (frozen shoulder) and tendonitis, etc. etc. Had my ortho surgeon recommend surgery. Repair the slap, clean everything up, and manipulate the arm to break up all the scar tissue..it turned into a scheduling nightmare cause I also had to have my hand operated on to repair a detached tendon..also ski injury.

Well..the next opinion I got was surgical manipulation for the frozen shoulder and leave the slap lesion alone. Ok. Had one last opinion on Thursday morning..surgery had been scheduled for this Monday on both hand and shoulder..this new doc said NO WAY. Frozen shoulders happen frequently in women between 50 and 55 yrs. old. I'm 52. Asked if I was post menapausal..yup.. said, PT. Vigerous, regular, physical therapy. Do not let anyone operate. It will get better within 18 months. Surgical manipulation has many risks. You will have the risks, and still get better in 18 months. It is hormonal.. mine was traumatic injury he said, but..who knows.. the left could freeze up at any minute. Sure hope not cause it is PAINFUL as all get out..

If you have a frozen shoulder..first phase is pain. Pain pain pain. Then, freeze up. Then, slowly the range of motion eventually returns. Going the route of surgery..you risk adhesions, nerve damage and more. He said pain meds..and PT.. anti-inflamatory drugs won't help. Just lots of PT..and pain meds. I guess it goes with the aging thing and hormones..if hot flashes weren't enough.. wham.

pushka

I think the hormonal theory has been debunked, otherwise men would not get frozen shoulder. It is more to do with age (ie 40 to 60 years) and of course, that is also the menopausal time so it is correlated with it but NOT caused by it.

cantell

I also have to disagree with the age thingy. or menapauseal part. the reason is I have gotten the frozen sholder at around age 25 er 26?? left shoulder..then again several time's over the years..doctor gave me cortizone shots to help...dont really think they helped a great deal but the shoulder finally stoped tormenting me eventually...now I am 43 around november of last year both my shoulders froze up..yep pain? ya better believe it. putting on a blouse over the head didnt happen..only shirts that buttoned up front. reaching to put a bra on forget that. nor could I reach for anything in any direction much less scratch my butt. this went on for 3 months. it went away. I did not do anything to make my shoulders freeze up..ziltch! nada!. and didnt do anything to un freeze them...hurt to bad..lol...just eazed around the house done what I could and had hubby to do the rest...cause he's the best!! LOL..have to laugh about it..dont do no good to cry.. I dont know anything about the shoulder thing being tied in with the thrioid..sp? doc never mentioned it to me just seen me coming and broke out that hugh needle.

activechick

Hey, what a surgeon told ME about frozen shoulder was that the latest indication is that it's actually an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks itself, laying down a huge ammount of scar tissue around the shoulder capsule. Can be brought on by a small trauma. The weird thing is--the thing seems to resolve itself in a couple of years, his theory being that the body simply starts to re-absorb the excess scar tissue. This doc is a research guy, pretty cutting edge, and this made sense to me.
If frozen shoulder syndrome is about scar tissue issues, then it would make sense to me to try ASTYM treatment, which is something that breaks down old scarring to encourage healthy healing. Anybody out there had ASTYM on their shoulders? I've just had it on my feet for plantar fasccitis, which it totally cured.

pushka

Oh my gosh, I had plantar fascitis last year, but it has now stopped and I got this frozen shoulder instead. And I am hypothyroid which is a classic autoimmune disorder and they commonly cluster together (diabetes, thyroid, lupus etc!)

activechick

Oh, that's very interesting! there are no providers outside the US--bummer. I wonder if some research into autoimmune disorders might help you??
Wow--good luck!