A frozen shoulder is a painful condition that typically comes on gradually. It affects women more than men, often in the 40 – 60 year old age bracket. Can a chiropractor help with a frozen shoulder though?
If you have a frozen shoulder, the good news is that a chiropractor can often help improve the condition. The goal of the treatment is to restore mobility to the shoulder, reduce pain, and encourage the body to start healing itself.
For those considering seeing a chiropractor for a frozen shoulder, this post will explain what the condition is, how chiropractic can help, the techniques used, and the benefits of chiropractic for a frozen shoulder.
The medical name for a frozen shoulder is ‘adhesive capsulitis’. This should give you a few clues about what it is.
Notably, it affects the shoulder capsule (the connective tissue sacs surrounding the ball and socket joints at the ends of your shoulder blades where your arms attach to your shoulders). The tissue in the capsule thickens and becomes inflamed, acting like an adhesive and ‘freezing’ the joint.
The condition comes on very gradually and gets worse before it gets better. There is generally pain along with stiffness in the joint.
We don’t really know exactly what causes a frozen shoulder but research indicates that certain conditions do predispose someone to develop one. These include:
The most obvious symptoms of a frozen shoulder are pain and stiffness in the shoulder joint, caused by the thickening of the tissues in the shoulder capsule around the joint. People with a frozen shoulder find it hard to move the shoulder freely or in all directions.
A frozen shoulder happens in 3 stages:
If you are developing a frozen shoulder, the first thing you’ll notice is that your shoulder starts to feel stiff and sore.
The onset of pain and stiffness is gradual, but it does get worse as the condition develops. You may find it hard to sleep at night because of the pain, and it will get increasingly difficult to move your arm and shoulder.
The freezing phase lasts anywhere from 6 weeks to 9 months.
It’s tempting to think the condition is ‘going away’ during this phase because the pain typically begins to reduce. However, your shoulder gets progressively stiffer and harder to move. You may also find that doing some types of activities gets ‘challenging’.
This phase can last between 4 and 12 months.
Finally, your shoulder will slowly start to get its normal range of motion back as the capsule heals. Progress will be slow, but steady. The pain will all but disappear, and you won’t feel as uncomfortable. But – it will take 6 months to 2 years to regain full use of your shoulder again!
If you don’t want to wait months, or even several years, for the condition to resolve itself, chiropractors have a few techniques that can often help!
Chiropractic shoulder manipulation uses gentle adjustments to the affected shoulder joint to help restore normal movement and ease pain. The adjustments aim to realign the shoulder and improve joint function.
ART uses manual soft tissue therapy to try and break down scar tissue within the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around the joint and ‘release’ it.
Myofascial release applies pressure to the myofascial connective tissue around the shoulder joint to release restrictions and improve blood flow. This technique helps break down the adhesions and scar tissue within the tissues that contribute to the stiffness and pain associated with a frozen shoulder.
Osteopath Neil Asher developed his own technique. He has developed a sequence of soft tissue treatments that combine to provide an effective formula for re-establishing the range of motion in frozen shoulder patients.
The benefits of chiropractic care for a frozen shoulder are primarily pain relief and the restoration of movement and functionality in the shoulder. Chiropractors can also provide personalised care and recommend preventative measures to help avoid a recurrence of the condition.
Chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue therapies aim to reduce the pain of your frozen shoulder and improve your quality of life. No one likes living with pain if they don’t have to! These techniques target lesions and scar tissue within the tissues around the joint to improve natural healing mechanisms.
You don’t just want a pain free shoulder; you also want to be able to use it properly. So, chiropractic care for a frozen shoulder also addresses this with adjustments and specific exercises designed to help restore functionality to the joint.
Chiropractors put a lot of time and effort into ensuring every person they treat receives highly targeted, personalised care customised to suit the individual’s condition and circumstances. This helps to ensure the treatment and therapies used are as effective as possible.
Chiropractic care isn’t just about ‘fixing’ a problem after the fact. It’s also very much about being proactive and investing in preventative care. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Your chiropractor will likely recommend a range of activities and supportive therapies around exercise, posture, and lifestyle directed at supporting long-term optimal shoulder health.
What can you do to avoid developing, or redeveloping, a frozen shoulder?
Will seeing a chiropractor help if you have a frozen shoulder?
Yes, it will. Chiropractic care can be very effective for managing this painful condition. It offers non-invasive treatments that can help reduce pain and improve movement in your affected shoulder.
Some of the techniques you can expect a chiropractor to use include Active Release Technique (ART), myofascial release, and shoulder manipulation.
You can also probably expect to receive advice about exercises, and perhaps lifestyle advice aimed at preventing a recurrence and improving your long-term prognosis.
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