“Ouch!”
You reach for the hauler and the pain shoots through your shoulder. You lean over to grab the mooring at the end of the day and the shoulder pain is excruciating. Sure, there’s been discomfort before, in fact, there’s been pain for some months now but it’s just getting worse. Every time you use that shoulder you catch your breath from the pain.
Source: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
It could be a case of “frozen shoulder.” Frozen shoulder is the common term for adhesive capsulitis, which is a long-term impairment of the shoulder joint. Signs and symptoms of the condition typically begin slowly, then get worse. Over time, symptoms get better, usually within one to three years.
The head of your upper arm bone fits into a shallow socket in the shoulder blade. The tissue that surrounds the joint and holds it together is called the capsule. When this capsule thickens and tightens, it restricts the joint’s movement. That’s when you have frozen shoulder.
Normally the shoulder capsule has folds in it that can expand and contract as the arm moves into various positions. In a frozen shoulder, the capsule becomes inflamed and scarring develops. The scars in the capsule are called adhesions. As the folds get more adhesions and tighten, the shoulder’s ability to move becomes restricted; moving the joint becomes painful.
As frozen shoulder develops, you experience severe pain whenever you must move your shoulder. Eventually you can’t move the shoulder at all, either on your own or with the help of someone else.
Frozen shoulder develops in three stages:
Freezing stage. Any movement of the shoulder causes pain, and the shoulder’s ability to move becomes limited. This stage lasts from 2 to 9 months.
Frozen stage. Pain might lessen during this stage. However, the shoulder becomes stiffer. Using it becomes more difficult. This stage lasts from 4 to 12 months.
Thawing stage. The shoulder’s ability to move begins to improve. This stage lasts from 5 to 24 months.
The condition most commonly affects people between the ages of 40 and 60, and it occurs in women more often than men. In addition, people with diabetes and thyroid conditions are at an increased risk for developing frozen shoulder.
Treatment for frozen shoulder is long term. Physical therapy includes range of motion exercises and stretches for the shoulder. Sometimes heat is used to help loosen the shoulder up before stretching. Anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen, Naprosyn, or Aleve may be used to reduce pain. Occasionally, doctors may recommend steroid injections of the joint.
It’s not clear what causes frozen shoulder. It tends to happen after the shoulder has been held immobile for a long time, such as after a surgery, or due to repetitive motions. Studies show that one way to prevent frozen shoulder is to consistently do gentle, progressive range-of-motion exercises and stretches to keep the shoulder tissues limber.
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