Frozen shoulder (also called adhesive capsulitis) is a common disorder that causes pain, stiffness, and loss of normal range of motion in the shoulder. The resulting disability can be serious, and the condition tends to get worse with time if it’s not treated. It affects mainly people ages 40 to 60 with women affected more often than men.
With frozen shoulder, the shoulder feels stiff, painful, and has limited motion in all directions. Symptoms of a frozen shoulder includestiffness that worsens at first, but gradually begins to improve over time, dull, aching pain that increases as the disease progresses, and may worsen when you move your arm.
A frozen shoulder may take two to nine months to develop. Although the pain may slowly improve, stiffness continues, and range of motion remains limited.
The shoulder has a wider and more varied range of motion than any other part of the body. It pivots mainly on a ball-and-socket arrangement called the glenohumeral joint, which joins the top of the humerus (upper arm bone) to a scooped-out part of the scapula (shoulder blade) called the glenoid cavity (see the illustration below).
The glenohumeral joint helps move the shoulder forward and backward and allows the arm to rotate and extend outward from the body. A flexible capsule filled with a lubricant called synovial fluid protects the joint and helps keep it moving smoothly.
The capsule is surrounded by ligaments that connect bones to bones, tendons that fasten muscles to bones, and fluid-filled sacs called bursae that cushion tendons and bones during motion.
The band of muscles and tendons that stabilizes the shoulder and controls its movements is called the rotator cuff.
This elaborate architecture of soft tissues accounts for the shoulder’s marvelous flexibility, but also makes it vulnerable to trauma as well as chroniMost frozen shoulders get better on their own within 12 to 18 months. For severe or persistent symptoms, other treatments include:
Steroid injections. Injecting corticosteroids into the shoulder joint might help decrease pain and improve shoulder mobility, especially if given soon after frozen shoulder begins.
Hydrodilatation. Injecting sterile water into the joint capsule can help stretch the tissue and make it easier to move the joint.
This is sometimes combined with a steroid injection.
Shoulder manipulation. This procedure involves a medication called a general anesthetic, so you’ll be unconscious and feel no pain.
