If you have ever had a frozen shoulder you will know how painful and debilitating it can be! They come on suddenly, after a knock to them, or just out of the blue for no reason! They start freezing over around 6 months, the movement getting more and more restrictive, then are frozen and you have very little movement at all for 6 months, then they will start to defreeze over another 6 months... they are very painful and as movement is so restricted it makes even basic things like getting dressed difficult!
Now that I'm on my second frozen shoulder I have some tips for easing the pain and speeding up recovery:
- don't aggravate a frozen shoulder, if a movement is sore, then don't do it
- don't sleep on a frozen shoulder, they don't like to be leaned on, try sleeping on your back or other side
- don't push it too hard, but you do need to keep a frozen shoulder moving as much as possible - by doing little exercises, which you can find here.
- doing up a bra at the back will be impossible for a couple of years (super annoying!), so spin it round and do it up at the front and then spin back again, or wear a stretchy crop top and pull it on over your hips
- try rubbing on a balm, like comfreys
- if it's difficult to put on tops, then try wearing lots of tops with a zip, they are much easier to put on.
- try taking paracetemol to help with the pain, or take an anti-inflammatory like naproxen or ibuprofen
Remember it will pass! If you really are struggling with the pain or lack of movement then you could try some more drastic medical interventions, such as a steroid injection, or it being wiggled under a general anaesthetic, which will unfreeze it.
The good news is that you are very unlikely to get a frozen shoulder in the same shoulder twice, so once you have had it one shoulder it shouldn't happen again!
I'm here if you have any questions.
Lucy xx