What is a Frozen Shoulder? Like all joints the shoulder joint has a capsule (membrane) around it. This membrane can get inflamed. Once the membrane is inflamed the patient tend to not move the shoulder joint much. The membrane will then form small adhesions inside that “glues” the membranes too each other. Once the membranes are “glued” together it is very hard to move the shoulder joint.
Who will develop a Frozen Shoulder? We know that certain conditions like diabetes, and too much or too little thyroid hormone can cause the inflammation. It is important to test all patients that develop this condition for diabetes, as well as the thyroid hormone levels.
How do we treat a Frozen Shoulder? The sooner the patient gets treatment the easier it is to treat the condition successfully (without surgery).
Physiotherapy, pain and anti-inflammatory treatment is critical. Physiotherapy must only be started once the pain is under control, even though it is a crucial part of returning the shoulder to normal.
Pain medication, anti-inflammatory tablets and cortisone injections into the shoulder joint form the basis of the medical treatment besides the regular physiotherapy. Most frozen shoulders can be treated this way with success.
Sometimes it might be hard to treat the condition without surgery. The reason for this is that there might be impingement (bony ridge under the bony overhang of the shoulder irritating the shoulder muscles), or another problem in the shoulder besides the inflammation. In these cases the e.g. bony ridge will need to be removed by arthroscopy.
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