Frozen shoulder

The Frozen shoulder is a fairly common injury, it is named for the decrease shoulder mobility but its medical name is Adhesive Capsulitis, this means that thickening of the joint capsule causes decreased movement, stiffness, and pain. An effective solution for this injury is to attend a MY Sports Injury & osteopathy clinic or a massage Therapist at our manchester city centre clinic to be attended by professionals.

Anatomy

The shoulder joint is formed by a set of bones and soft tissues that provide stability and wide mobility.

• Humerus
• Scapula
• Clavicle
• And the set of muscles, ligaments and joint capsules that surround it.

How does the frozen shoulder begin to appear?

The frozen shoulder usually presents slowly and in three stages.

• Motor blocking stage. In this stage any movement made of the shoulder causes pain and the range of motion of this joint begins to decrease.
• Rigid stage. Now, the pain may begin to decrease. However, the shoulder becomes stiff and it is increasingly difficult to use.
• Defrost stage. The range of movement of the shoulder begins to improve.

On many occasions to reach the defrosting stage, months, even years can pass. That is why we recommend attending a sports massage therapist in manchester to obtain care in maintenance of such injury.

When this injury begins to occur, everyday tasks such as putting on a shirt, combing, reaching objects on a shelf become very difficult to perform due to pain and decreased mobility.

Causes that produce frozen shoulder

In many cases, this lesion occurs spontaneously and can last for many months. There are also other causes:

• The frozen shoulder may be the result of a traumatic event in which the shoulder is related, such as a fall on the arm or back, or a neck injury.
• Surgeries or immobilizations are also a risk factor since the shoulder is without movement for some time.
• Thyroid gland conditions and diabetes are also related to this injury. It is recommended to perform blood tests to detect these conditions, especially when patients are older than 25 years since they are more likely to develop them.

How to diagnose frozen shoulder?

Mainly we recommend attending a specialist doctor or a Sports physiotherapist in Manchester to get an accurate diagnosis of the injury. However, there are different tests you can do at home to check if you are suffering from adhesive capsulitis.

• First test

You should keep your elbows glued to your body, and then you should bring your hand up your head, making an arch. If there is a difference in the range of movement of the two arms, perform the second test to verify this difference.

• Second test

Stand next to the wall hitting the shoulder that does not hurt you. From this position raise your hand from the painful side as high as you can. If you have a lot of pain and decrease the range of motion during the test, it increases the chance that you are suffering from a frozen shoulder.

• Third test

While standing, you should bring your healthy shoulder hand behind your back, trying to touch between the scapulae. Then you do it with the painful shoulder hand. If the difference is very noticeable between the two movements, it could be said quite sure that he is suffering from adhesive capsulitis.

How to treat frozen shoulder from home?

We recommend attending a massage Manchester city center to get the attention of a physiotherapist or specialized doctor. There you can get soft tissue therapy and specific exercises to improve your condition.

However, there are some exercises you can do at home to improve your condition. Next, we will explain it to you:

• Self-massage with a ball in the scapula

You can use a tennis, baseball, golf or lacrosse ball for this exercise. You have to place yourself on the wall and place the ball on the side of your scapula and press on the wall. You stay there for 3 minutes.

• Pendulum with the shoulder

You must lean on a table keeping the trunk horizontally; the painful arm should be hanging in the air and relaxed. From this position you should start to move the arm slightly forward and backward, allowing the gravity and inertia of the movement to improve the mobility of the joint.

• Exercises to improve shoulder rotation

Take the frame of a door with the painful shoulder hand leaving the body at a sufficient distance so that the elbow can form an angle of 90 degrees. From this position, turn your body to the opposite side of the arm, trying not to lift your feet. Then return to the starting position and repeat this same movement about 10 times.

When you do this exercise you will feel the stretch in the front of your shoulder. You should try that this exercise does not cause pain in your shoulder and you should do it progressively.

• Arm flexion

You should lie on your back, take the painful arm with your healthy arm, and without making an excessive effort or causing the pain you should slowly raise your arm in a linear direction until you reach a position above the head.

We recommend that you perform these exercises with caution and do them progressively. We also recommend that you attend a Sports Physio in manchester to get professional attention.