Frozen shoulder: symptoms, causes and treatments

Maria Leonard Olsen’s frozen shoulder started as mild pain in her right shoulder. From there it gradually became more and more difficult to lift her arm as the discomfort worsened. “It’s a

weird, throbbing pain; it’s so intense, and then it just stops,” says Olsen, 58, a lawyer and writer in Bethesda, Maryland. This past July, she saw an orthopedic surgeon, who made the

diagnosis, gave her a cortisone shot and sent her for PT twice a week. “It’s about 50 percent better now,” she says, both in terms of movement and pain. If the more conservative treatments

don’t help, surgery may be an option during stage 2 of frozen shoulder. With a procedure called arthroscopic capsular release, an orthopedic surgeon releases the stiffened joint capsule and

removes adhesions (scar tissue), Warner explains. Surgery is usually followed by intense PT to help the patient maintain the restored range of motion. To treat her (right) frozen shoulder,

Marnell went for physical therapy and dry needling (which involves inserting super thin needles into muscles, tendons, ligaments or other tissues to increase range of motion and reduce

pain). The combination helped a bit but not completely. Meanwhile, her left shoulder started stiffening up, and it didn’t respond to stretching, PT, massage or acupuncture. (While there’s

little scientific evidence that acupuncture or dry needling helps, these techniques may be helpful as adjunctive therapies, Shubin Stein says.) In 2015, Marnell had arthroscopic surgery on

her left shoulder to break up the frozen tissue, followed by intense PT. These days she has nearly full mobility in both shoulders. To maximize recovery from frozen shoulder, early diagnosis

is important, experts say. If shoulder pain is waking you up at night, if you’re losing range of motion (especially when rotating your shoulder inward), or if fast motions with your upper

arm hurt more than slow motions, see a doctor. “Early intervention and diligent treatment make this a much quicker process if we catch it before scarring occurs,” Shubin Stein says. Video: 5

Stretches to Help Your Back and Neck _Stacey Colino is an award-winning writer, specializing in health, psychology, and science. Her work has appeared in _The Washington Post, U.S. News

& World Report, Prevention, Newsweek, Parade,_ and many other national magazines._