Frozen shoulder

‘I cannot raise my hand as before, movement is so painful that I can’t sleep comfortably and my daily activities are hampered’ said a middle aged lady. Inflammation of the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint causes the joint capsule to be swollen and the intra-articular fluid is reduced; a codition medically called adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder. The condition is quite painful and movement of the shoulder is greatly resticted.

In general it happens suddenly, after lifting heavy weight, fall, trauma/accident, in disorders like – stroke, diabetic mellitus Parkinson’s disease, Connective Tissue Disorder, heart diseases etc.  Research has shown that middle aged people are mostly affected due to lack of physical activities and some research shows that women are more affected then men. Cold weather is another predisposing factor which may aggravate frozen shoulder.

 For identification, physiotherapists must first check the range of movement since shoulder joint is a joint with a wide range of movements – adduction, abduction, medial-rotation, lateral-rotation, flexion, extension and some additional movements. Among other movements abduction, rotations and extension become limited and severely painful due to frozen shoulder which hampers most activities like combing, rubbing back, dressing and hand raising. Signs of frozen shoulder are most frequently seen among diabetic patients without any history of trauma.

Interestingly frozen shoulder has three phases namely -the freezing stage, which is more painful then others during which motion becomes restricted but stiffness is less and lasts 6-12 weeks, frozen stage, it is the second stage where pain usually eases up but stiffness becomes worse and it lasts 4- 6 months, thawing stage, where motion improves steadily through years.

Santé passe richesse (Health is wealth).

This wealth can be regained by physiotherapy which can minimize the suffering. Musculoskeletal therapy by means of especial techniques – Cyrix Concept, Stretching and additional movements, home exercises like wall climbing and pendular exercise is helpful to increase the range of movements.  Intra-articular injections have very little impact on the range of movement when shoulder joint is stiff.            

 

 

Frozen shoulder

I cannot raise my hand as before, movement is so painful that I cant sleep comfortably and my daily activities are hampered said a middle aged lady. Inflammation of the glenohumeral (shoulder) joint causes the joint capsule to be swollen and the intra-articular fluid is reduced; a codition medically called adhesive capsulitis or frozen shoulder. The condition is quite painful and movement of the shoulder is greatly resticted. In general it happens suddenly, after lifting heavy weight, fall, trauma/accident, in disorders like stroke, diabetic mellitus Parkinsons disease, Connective Tissue Disorder, heart diseases etc. Research has shown that middle aged people are mostly affected due to lack of physical activities and some research shows that women are more affected then men. Cold weather is another predisposing factor which may aggravate frozen shoulder. For identification, physiotherapists must first check the range of movement since shoulder joint is a joint with a wide range of movements adduction, abduction, medial-rotation, lateral-rotation, flexion, extension and some additional movements. Among other movements abduction, rotations and extension become limited and severely painful due to frozen shoulder which hampers most activities like combing, rubbing back, dressing and hand raising. Signs of frozen shoulder are most frequently seen among diabetic patients without any history of trauma. Interestingly frozen shoulder has three phases namely -the freezing stage, which is more painful then others during which motion becomes restricted but stiffness is less and lasts 6-12 weeks, frozen stage, it is the second stage where pain usually eases up but stiffness becomes worse and it lasts 4- 6 months, thawing stage, where motion improves steadily through years. Sant passe richesse (Health is wealth). This wealth can be regained by physiotherapy which can minimize the suffering. Musculoskeletal therapy by means of especial techniques Cyrix Concept, Stretching and additional movements, home exercises like wall climbing and pendular exercise is helpful to increase the range of movements. Intra-articular injections have very little impact on the range of movement when shoulder joint is stiff.