Frozen Shoulder Treatment in London

Frozen shoulder is also known as adhesive capsulitis which can be a very unpleasant painful condition and results in a severe loss of motion in the shoulder. It affects an average of 3% of the population at any one time and most of those people tend to be in their 50s or 60s. The definition of a frozen shoulder is where both the patient and the practitioner are not able to lift the arm at the shoulder because it’s ‘locked’ in place with very little movement in any direction. The shoulder ‘freezes up’ due to severe inflammation of the joint capsules. The loose tissue of the joint capsule that usually allows a great deal of motion at the shoulder, sticks together, limiting the movement. It can be debilitating causing severe stiffness, an aching pain in the outer shoulder area or upper arm and often the pain doesn’t go away for months or years and is worse at night. If you have a frozen shoulder you will have difficulty performing everyday tasks such as throwing, lifting or reaching.

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The exact cause of frozen shoulder is uncertain. It often starts for no apparent reason and is a mystery but it can also be linked with previous injury like a fracture, surgery or long term immobility of the shoulder. For example, a frozen shoulder may begin following other injuries where the shoulder is not moved around normally because of other injury often after a wrist fracture where the arm may be kept in a sling for several weeks or following a stroke. There is also evidence that patients with poorly controlled diabetes are at an increased risk of developing frozen shoulder.