Frozen Shoulder - pain relief
disclaimer - I have no specialised medical knowledge
Stand a couple of feet away from the corner of a table, facing the table with legs slightly more than shoulder width apart. Put the hand of your 'good arm' on the corner of the table and lean forward so it supports your body weight, and so that the hand of your 'bad' arm (the one with the frozen shoulder) is hanging down. Let your bad arm just hang there. Do NOT swing your bad arm. GENTLY rotate your hips and upper body in a circular motion, similar to hula hooping in slow motion. (see Fig 1) You will notice that your hanging arm also rotates very gently in the same direction. Allow your hanging arm to move naturally. After a few rotations (between 10 and 20) pause for a few seconds, then rotate the hips and body in the opposite direction a similar number of times.
That's it!
If the above exercise is very painful, or increases your pain, STOP immediately. It isn't working for you. If the exercise doesn't increase your pain, try repeating it after 15 minutes. If you find it relieves the pain, then the next time your shoulder is painful repeat the exercise. After doing the exercise a few times try doubling the number of rotations to see if this increases the period of relief.
That's it!
If the above exercise is very painful, or increases your pain, STOP immediately. It isn't working for you. If the exercise doesn't increase your pain, try repeating it after 15 minutes. If you find it relieves the pain, then the next time your shoulder is painful repeat the exercise. After doing the exercise a few times try doubling the number of rotations to see if this increases the period of relief.
I had frozen shoulder (known medically as Adhesive Capsulitis) and went to various medical specialists without success. One of them gave me exercises which were very painful and if anything seemed to make it worse. I searched the net and found a large number of treatments and therapies suggested, including surgery, drugs, diet, yoga, acupuncture, massage, deep manipulation, trigger therapy, heat treatment, lotions, and a variety of exercises. Many of them claimed that if the suggested remedy was followed exactly the condition would be cured within a couple of years.
I was confused and disappointed. Then I found a page* which stated very bluntly that in the majority of cases frozen shoulder sorts itself out in 18 months to 2 years regardless of the treatment used, and that many of the treatments, including painful exercises, can make the condition worse. It suggested the above method as a way of relieving the pain. I tried it and it worked. Not only did it relieve the pain, but within a month my shoulder was noticeably freer, and within a couple of months it was near enough back to normal.
Searching the web brings up thousands of pages on "frozen shoulder" but this particular pain relief treatment is hard to find, which is a pity because I found it very effective, and it doesn't rely on expensive consultations and treatments.
* The original page is no longer online. There is also an article which gives a more technical account of this exercise in the September 2000 issue of "The Physician and Sportsmedicine" (Vol 28, No 9), but it is only available on subscription.
Weed (June 2009)
