The frozen shoulder also known as adhesive capsulitis is a major cause of shoulder pain. It occurs mainly in 40 to 60-year-olds and it has been seen more commonly in women (70%). For effective results you should take physiotherapy classes from PAL Physiotherapy who provides Best Physiotherapy for Frozen Shoulder in Gurgaon.
Often confused with rotator cuff injury, it has a series of symptoms starting with severe shoulder pain which eventually results in stiffness of the shoulder. The risk of developing the condition increases if you are recovering from a stroke or mastectomy. The treatment procedures for the medical condition involve a range of motion exercises. Medications are also prescribed for the same and in a rare number of cases, arthroscopic surgery is also prescribed.
There are many causes of this condition and there is still scope for research in this area. There are many theories that revolve around the causes of the condition that have opened up a spate of debate among the medical community. Medical conditions like diabetes, cardiac diseases, and thyroid disorders increase the chance of inflicting Adhesive Capsulitis. For instance, diabetes has a chance of around 10 to 38% in develop this condition.
The frozen shoulder develops in three stages. Confusingly, each stage has different symptoms. Its stages are:
• Stage 1-Freezing
This stage starts with a severe pain around the shoulder and eventually as a result, your shoulder loses a range of motion.
• Stage 2-Frozen
The acute pain observed in the initial stage starts to subside but the stiffness becomes persistent making the daily activities a difficult task. The stage prevails for a time period of 9 to 15 months.
• Stage 3-Thawing
During the third stage, shoulder motion improves greatly and the stage is known to last for an interval of 15 months to over 2 years. This phase of frozen shoulder is also called the white phase because of the capsule color if you have undergone the arthroscopic surgery.
It can be easily diagnosed by a medical professional through a complete physical examination. The physiotherapist may inquire about the difficulties you face while doing physical activities. Some of the common difficulties are lacking the ability to throw a ball, unable to sleep on your side, etc.
After checking your medical history and the symptoms, the physiotherapist may ask you to perform certain shoulder movements. He may move your shoulders carefully in all directions to see the range of movements. Additionally, the physiotherapist will compare these passive movements with the active movements.
Other tests to confirm frozen shoulder
Stiffness and shoulder pain can be diagnosed due to a number of other reasons. In order to make sure, you may be directed to undergo an X-ray or MRI test to rule out any other doubts.
A relief for the condition can be observed gradually as the time passes. It may even take up to 3 years to observe a complete healing of frozen shoulder. The Frozen Shoulder treatment in Gurgaon is based on the stage you are currently in.
The detailed treatment process as per the three stages is given below.
• Freezing
During this particular phase, medication for pain relief is given more stress. This may include the prescription of pharmacological medications to relieve the severe pain. But this may become ineffective after the passage of first few weeks. Intracapsular corticosteroid injection comes to the rescue when the pain becomes unbearable. Other treatment strategies followed during the phase are acupuncture, dry needling and kinesiology taping.
• Frozen
Here, specific stretches and muscle release techniques are advised. Mobilization with movement (MWM) style is an effective technique during this stage.
Here in this phase, during the treatment, care should be given while doing exercises; aggressive workouts are strictly a no no.
Hydrodilation is a procedure often used during this stage. It can assist with the stretches and help reduce adhesions and capsular scarring.
• Thawing
It is during the final stage thawing where you observe an improvement to your shoulder problems with the help of physiotherapist-directed mobilizations. As your condition improves, your physiotherapist will provide you many exercise progressions including strengthening exercises. Physiotherapy is seen best effective during this phase.
It’s seen that 60% to 80% of patients respond well to non-surgical treatments. Frozen shoulder surgery is advised only when there is a lack of improvement from a physiotherapy program. For more details, consult your shoulder surgeon.
As the saying goes, it is indeed true that prevention is always better than cure. Frozen shoulder can be prevented by avoiding a prolonged shoulder inactivity. However, if you find any discomfort with your shoulder, it’s highly advisable to seek
