Possibly the last thing on your mind is any form of exercise if you have a frozen shoulder but surprisingly, the right type of exercise can actually speed up the healing process and get you back to full pain free movement more quickly.
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But don’t make the mistake of cherry picking exercises from a book or reading up on them on the internet. If you really want to get better and get your shoulder working again then you need to use an exercise programme designed by a physical therapist specifically for shoulder injuries. Doing the wrong type of exercises can do more harm than good irritating the capsule around the shoulder and leading to more damage and a longer recovery time.
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Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis is caused by the internal membrane that surrounds the shoulder joint contracting and thickening. As it does this it compresses the shoulder joint limiting movement and causing the characteristic pain.
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It is not known for sure, exactly what sets it off but it usually occurs in people over forty and around seventy percent of sufferers are women. There are some medical conditions such as thyroid disorders and diabetes that make people more likely to suffer from frozen shoulder. If you have had a previous shoulder injury or undergone surgery you are also at risk.
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The condition is self limiting which basically means that if you ignore it, it will sort itself out. Unfortunately this can take anything up to two or even three years if you do nothing to speed things up.
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Frozen shoulder has three distinct phases to the condition. It can start out as shoulder pain, a simple ache. We all get them and we all tend to ignore them, but as time passes the pain will worsen and the joint will start to stiffen up. This is known as the painful phase and is the first sign of a frozen shoulder. All you can do at this stage is take pain killers to alleviate the symptoms.
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Following the painful stage, you will go through a stage where the pain gets less but the shoulder continues to lose mobility., This is known as the freezing phase. Don’t be lulled into thinking that things are getting better simply because the pain reduces. Your mobility can actually decrease significantly during the freezing phase.
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Finally you get to the thawing phase where your shoulder gradually loosens up and gets back to normal. Pain significantly reduces and movement improves.
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It is during this final phase that you can significantly improve recovery time through frozen shoulder specific exercises designed to help you get things moving again as quickly as possible.
