How can frozen shoulder be treated?
The resolution of a frozen shoulder can be very slow, but physical therapy can speed up the healing process. Frozen shoulder begins with pain followed by the rapid development of stiffness. Usually when the pain starts to subside physical therapy can be effective in stretching the capsule back out. Occasionally in unmanageable cases surgery is indicated. This is true only in cases in which the pain has subsided and the residual capsular contracture has not responded to six months or more of physical therapy. Early surgery in the face of frozen shoulder will lead to more problems with stiffness after surgery. I have been diagnosed with a rotator cuff tear in addition to frozen shoulder; why won t the surgeon repair the rotator cuff now? Surgery in the face of a frozen shoulder is not recommended because of the immobilization required after a rotator cuff repair. The shoulder becomes more inflamed after the surgery and the immobilization required to heal the cuff repair leads to increase
