Think you have a frozen shoulder? Here’s how we can help…

A frozen shoulder, or adhesive capsulitis, can be incredibly frustrating. It causes stiffness, pain, and a limited range of motion in your shoulder, making even simple tasks like reaching or lifting painful. The good news? Physiotherapy can make a huge difference in helping you recover and get your shoulder back to normal.

In this post, we’ll look at how physiotherapy can help with frozen shoulder, the techniques used, and why it's such an important part of recovery.

What Exactly is Frozen Shoulder?

Frozen shoulder happens when the capsule around your shoulder joint thickens and tightens up. This makes the shoulder stiff and painful, severely limiting how much you can move it. The condition typically goes through three stages:

1. **Freezing Stage**: Pain increases, and your range of motion starts to shrink.

2. **Frozen Stage**: The pain might ease up, but stiffness takes over, making movement even harder.

3. **Thawing Stage**: Gradual recovery starts, and your shoulder starts to loosen up.

Frozen shoulder can be triggered by things like an injury, surgery, or even conditions like diabetes. But the good news is that physiotherapy can help you recover, no matter where you are in the process.

How Physiotherapy Helps with a Frozen Shoulder

Physiotherapists focus on easing pain, improving movement, and helping you get back to doing the things you love. Here's how they do it:

1. Managing Pain

Pain can be one of the most challenging parts of frozen shoulder, especially in the early stages. Physiotherapists use different techniques to help ease that pain:

- Manual Therapy: This includes hands-on techniques like gentle joint mobilizations, which can reduce stiffness and help with pain relief.

- Heat and Cold Therapy: Using hot packs or cold compresses can help with inflammation and provide some much-needed pain relief.

- TENS Therapy: This involves using a small device that sends electrical pulses to the skin, helping block pain signals and promote natural pain relief.

2. Restoring Movement

The loss of shoulder movement is one of the most frustrating parts of frozen shoulder. Physiotherapists use targeted techniques to improve your range of motion:

- Stretching and Joint Mobilization: Physiotherapists will guide you through stretches and mobilizations to gently improve flexibility and start restoring movement.

- Gentle Joint Manipulation: In more advanced cases, physiotherapists might use more specific techniques to loosen the shoulder joint and encourage better movement.

With regular therapy, you’ll notice gradual improvements in the ability to move your shoulder and get back to normal activities.

3. Strengthening the Shoulder

Once the pain starts to ease and your shoulder is moving better, physiotherapy will shift to strengthening the muscles around the shoulder joint. This is important for both recovery and preventing the shoulder from getting stiff again. Physiotherapists might use:

- Rotator Cuff Strengthening: The rotator cuff muscles are key to shoulder stability. Physiotherapists will work with you on exercises to strengthen these muscles, which can include resistance bands or light weights.

- Scapular (Shoulder Blade) Exercises Strengthening the muscles around your shoulder blade helps stabilize the shoulder joint and can prevent future issues.

4. Education and Prevention

A big part of physiotherapy is teaching you how to care for your shoulder moving forward. Physiotherapists will give you advice on things like posture, body mechanics, and how to avoid movements that could make your shoulder worse. They may also give you a set of exercises to do at home to keep your shoulder strong and mobile long after therapy ends.

Why Physiotherapy is So Effective for Frozen Shoulder

- Non-invasive: Physiotherapy is a natural treatment that doesn’t require surgery or injections, making it a great option for many people.

- Helps Prevent Long-term Issues: Addressing pain and stiffness early on can help prevent permanent loss of mobility, so you can avoid the long-term effects of a frozen shoulder.

- Faster Recovery: With physiotherapy, recovery tends to be quicker because it targets the root cause of the stiffness and pain.

- Personalized Plans: Physiotherapists create treatment plans tailored to your specific needs, goals, and the severity of your condition.

When Should You Start Physiotherapy?

The earlier you seek physiotherapy, the better. If you notice shoulder pain or limited movement, it’s a good idea to consult a physiotherapist as soon as possible. Early treatment can help ease pain, prevent stiffness from worsening, and speed up your recovery.

Frozen shoulder can be a painful and frustrating condition, but physiotherapy is one of the best ways to recover. Whether it's through pain management, improving movement, strengthening muscles, or teaching you how to prevent further issues, physiotherapists play a huge role in helping you get back to your regular activities. If you’re dealing with frozen shoulder, don’t wait to seek treatment — start physiotherapy and get on the road to recovery today!