What is it?
With a frozen shoulder, your shoulder first becomes painful and then stiff. Raising your arm, putting on a coat or reaching behind your back gets harder and harder. Other names are adhesive capsulitis and, in Dutch, bevroren schouder.
The condition runs through three phases. First you mainly have pain, often at night as well. Your shoulder then grows stiffer while the pain eases, and in the final phase you can do more again.
Frozen shoulder is most common between the ages of 40 and 60. It usually clears up on its own, but it takes time. A physiotherapist helps you keep moving and keep doing your everyday tasks in the meantime.
Common causes
- Being between 40 and 60
- Diabetes
- An overactive or underactive thyroid
- A fall on your shoulder, or a fracture around it
- Recent shoulder surgery
- Keeping your shoulder still for a long time
How we diagnose
We ask how your symptoms started, how they have changed and what you can no longer do. Your physiotherapist then tests how far your shoulder moves on its own and how far it goes when we move it for you. We compare this with your other shoulder.
If the picture fits frozen shoulder, we work out together which phase you are in. If we are unsure of the cause, we consult your GP.
Treatment approach
In the painful phase you keep your shoulder moving with gentle exercises that do not hurt much. Your physiotherapist also shows you how to manage things like cycling, driving or getting out of bed.
As the pain eases, you build up the exercises and work on range of motion and strength. In the final phase you train in our gym towards your work and sport.
Expected recovery
Expect a long recovery. For most people it takes about two and a half years before the symptoms are gone, for some one year and for others three and a half. The pain usually goes before the stiffness does.
Your physiotherapist adjusts your exercises in each phase to what your shoulder can handle.
