Frozen Shoulder Exercise - Need Instant Relief?

Frozen shoulder Is your shoulder painful, stiff and you are feeling like it is frozen? You could be having a frozen shoulder. Frozen shoulder is a condition that limits the movements of the shoulder joint in different directions. It is medically referred to as adhesive capsulitis. When one gets a frozen shoulder, both he and the doctor cannot move the shoulder due to the limited range of motion. Adhesive capsulitis not only limits motions but also is painful, temporary disabling and slow in recovery. Frozen shoulder pain gets worse at night and during cold weather. Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis rarely presents itself in people under the age of 40 and it is twice as common in women as in men. Frozen shoulder causes are the thickening and shrinkage or tightening of the shoulder capsule due to an injury to the shoulder or long-term shoulder immobility. The risk factors for frozen shoulder include age and gender, shoulder trauma or surgery, endocrine disorders such as diabetes among others. Frozen shoulder causes are not always directly linked to any particular cause or injury. One does not get a frozen shoulder overnight it develops slowly over time. The initial frozen shoulder symptoms that patients experience is pain in the shoulder with any motion that one attempts. This is followed by stiffness then the range of motions becomes limited and it finally becomes painful and hard to move the frozen shoulder. The last stage of a frozen shoulder is thawing where there is gradual, steady increase in the motions over a period and can last for more than a year. Pain while sleeping at night is another typical symptom of a frozen shoulder. Diagnosis of a frozen shoulder only needs a physical exam done by the doctor. X-ray is only done to rule out evidence of traumatic injury, abnormality or arthritic changes to the joint. Frozen shoulder treatment is a combination of medication and frozen shoulder physical therapy. The treatment has to be aggressive to avoid the condition becoming permanent and focuses on relieving pain and ensuring the motions are returned. Medications given for a frozen shoulder are anti-inflammatory and painkillers. Frozen shoulder physical therapy is essential for recovery and can involve electric stimulation, stretching, ice packs and a range of frozen shoulder exercises. Mostly a frozen shoulder heals naturally after a year or so, but sometimes even with the help of medications and the frozen shoulder physical therapy it remains painful and immobile. It is in these instances that a doctor may recommend alternative frozen shoulder treatment. First are steroids injections to reduce pain and improve mobility. Another option is joint distension whereby sterile water is injected into the joint capsule to stretch tissues and make moving the joint easier. Shoulder manipulation whereby you are anesthetized then the doctor moves the joint in different directions to loosen tight tissues. The last option is surgery to remove scar tissues and adhesions from the frozen shoulder. Even after recovery of the frozen shoulder, patients will have slight limitations in motions of the frozen shoulder. However, this is not noticeable under normal conditions but only under careful physical examination.