Frozen Shoulder | Parkview Health

Frozen shoulder is stiffness, pain, and trouble moving your shoulder. It may happen after an injury or overuse, or from a disease such as diabetes or a stroke. You may have pain that keeps you from using your shoulder. However, you need to move your shoulder. If you do not move it, it will get more stiff and sore. Your doctor may order an X-ray to make sure there is not another cause for your stiff shoulder.

You can treat frozen shoulder with heat, stretching, over-the-counter pain medicines, and physical therapy. Your doctor also may inject medicine into your shoulder to reduce pain and swelling. It can take a year or more to get better. Surgery is almost never needed.

What are the symptoms of frozen shoulder?

When you have frozen shoulder, the tissues around the joint stiffen, scar tissue forms, and shoulder movement becomes difficult and painful. These problems limit the shoulder's range of motion.

What causes frozen shoulder?

Frozen shoulder can develop when you stop using the joint normally because of pain, injury, or a chronic health condition, such as diabetes or a stroke. Any shoulder problem can lead to frozen shoulder if you do not work to keep full range of motion.

Frozen shoulder occurs:

After surgery or injury.
Most often in people 40 to 70 years old.
More often in women (especially in postmenopausal women) than in men.
Most often in people with chronic diseases.

How is frozen shoulder treated?

Treatment for frozen shoulder usually starts with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and application of heat to the affected area, followed by gentle stretching. Ice and medicines (including corticosteroid injections) may also be used to reduce pain and swelling. And physical therapy can help increase your range of motion. A frozen shoulder can take a year or more to get better.

If treatment is not helping, surgery is sometimes done to loosen some of the tight tissues around the shoulder. Two surgeries are often done. In one surgery, called manipulation under anesthesia, you are put to sleep and then your arm is moved into positions that stretch the tight tissue. The other surgery uses an arthroscope to cut through tight tissues and scar tissue. These surgeries can both be done at the same time.

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