Frozen Shoulder Syndrome

A painful and debilitating condition of the shoulder, which is characterized by pain and severe stiffness is known as frozen shoulder syndrome, also abbreviated as FSS. The medical term used to describe this condition is adhesive capsulitis. The term adhesive means sticky and capsulitis stands for inflammation of the joint capsule. This condition affects two percent of the general population. It is normally not caused due to any underlying disease. Let's find an answer to the question, what is frozen shoulder syndrome.

What is Frozen Shoulder Syndrome?
Frozen shoulder syndrome is a condition, which affects the ability of the shoulder to move. It is a pathological disease. This condition usually affects any one side. In rare cases, the problem also affects the other shoulder as well, the ratio of which is 1 in 5 affected people. This condition affects the shoulder capsule within the shoulder joint. It is strange, but commonly observed, that once the frozen shoulder is cured, it never affects the same shoulder back.

Causes of Frozen Shoulder
There are normally two classification of frozen shoulder syndrome. The first of the two is primary. There is no significant and specific reason for the shoulder pain and stiffness, caused in this condition. The other class is secondary. This type of frozen shoulder is caused due to trauma, surgery or illness. Although it is very difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of frozen shoulder syndrome, there is inflammation caused to the lining of the joint capsule, which in turn leads to formation of the scar tissue. Due to scar tissue, there is less space for the arm bone to move, which restricts the movement of the arm joint.

If the frozen shoulder syndrome, affects a diabetic, especially insulin dependent diabetic, it may be caused due to sticking of the glucose molecules to the collagen fibers in the joint capsule. This often leads to stiffness. Hence out of the people who suffer from frozen shoulder syndrome, the diabetics are more prone to suffer from it in both their shoulders. If the syndrome affects a woman in her menopausal period, it should be linked to the hormonal changes, which are seen in the menopausal period. Poor posture can cause shortening of the ligaments of the shoulder, which in turn causes frozen shoulder. If the arm capsule has been immobile for an extended period of time due to injury, such as fractures, it can lead to frozen shoulder.

Frozen Shoulder Symptoms
The frozen shoulder syndrome is divided under three phases, hence the symptoms of each of these phase differ. The first is the painful phase, where there is a gradual onset of aching shoulder. The pain can develop and is widespread. It usually worsens in the night or when lying on the affected shoulder side. The next of the phases is the stiffening phase, where the stiffness starts to become a problem. The pain level does not change, but there is difficulty in normal daily tasks such as dressing, combing hair, carrying bags, working on the computer, etc. Often muscle wastage is seen in this phase, as due to pain and stiffness, the muscle is not used. In the last phase, the range of motion sees gradual, yet slow improvement. There is also gradual decrease in pain. In some cases, the pain can stage a comeback, when stiffness decreases.

The most important tip to remember, when you suffer from frozen shoulder syndrome is to keep moving the shoulder as much as possible. If you feel the movement is very painful, you may want to do it in front of your health care professional itself. Normally the doctor will prescribe anti-inflammatory medicine, to reduce the inflammation. The next step is to make you undergo a course of physiotherapy. In this course, the physiotherapist will prescribe frozen shoulder syndrome exercises. You will have to do these frozen shoulder exercise diligently and as prescribed. If your frozen shoulder is not responding to any treatment, surgery will be the last option the doctor will advise.

Frozen shoulder syndrome can sometimes affect the person for as long as 30 months. Although it is debilitating condition and can cause tremendous amount of discomfort, it is totally curable and like I previously mentioned, seldom does it affect the same shoulder again.