Have you ever experienced difficulty in raising your arm? Or worst, you get recurring sleepless night especially during cold season because of the gnawing pain that you’re feeling in the shoulder area? Then you might be one of the millions of victims suffering from Adhesive Capsulitis or Frozen Shoulder.

Experts say that this ailment has three stages. The first stage is aptly called “freezing” or the painful stage. In this stage, shoulder pain persists from six weeks to forty weeks. And at this period, pain starts to be felt little by little until it gets worse making the shoulders lose movement. The next stage is the “frozen” phase. At this stage, pain does not intensify. However the feeling of stiffness or rigidity especially in the affected area continues. This typically lasts for about 16 weeks to 40 weeks. And lastly, the “thawing” or the recovery phase. This usually lasts for 20 weeks to 26 months. With the use of drugs or rehabilitating exercises, the motion of the shoulder slowly starts to normalize.

Most of the victims of frozen shoulder are aged 40 and above and according to statistics, it is more likely to appear in women than in men. Those who have diabetes, lung disease, rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, those who have undergone breast or lung surgery and those patients who suffered from stroke are more prone to having frozen shoulder.

Through exercise , physical therapy targeting the affected tissues and some tested medicines, Frozen Shoulder could be treated. But then, maybe the best way to combat the disorder from attacking us is to exercise regularly and avoid strenuous activities or extreme sports that could hurt the shoulders badly.

Adhesive Capsulitis or Frozen Shoulder in lay man’s term is a disorder wherein the shoulder capsule or the connective tissue around the glenohumeral joint of the shoulder becomes swollen and rigid. In line with this, irregular groups of tissue, scientifically called adhesions, grow together with the shoulder capsule causing severe pain thus restricting movement. This ailment often lasts from as short as 5 months to as long as 3 years or more. Persistent pain is usually worst at night and during cold weather. Because of this, patients with frozen shoulder or terrible shoulder pain experience sleepless nights. Severe pain and cramping can last for several minutes, making the patient or the victim unable to perform even simple or small tasks.

To date the exact cause of having frozen shoulder is not yet established or recognized by medical experts. But some studies show that it might be caused by an injury or trauma in the shoulder area. These adhesions are also thought to attack healthy and functioning tissues in the shoulder. With this condition there’s a lack of fluid in the joint limiting motion.

This disorder is often felt by people over 40 years old. Because of the recurring pain, most patients who has frozen shoulder feel overly fatigued and frustrated, often leading to depression, and pain to other nearby muscle or joint areas such as the neck and the back. The tissues around the adhesions are also damaged if the condition is not cured right away.

These days, medical experts have formulated medicines that would at least lessen or alleviate extreme pain. Therapies and other exercises are also believed to be useful in treating the disorder.

In our day to day lives we often use our shoulders in most of our arm or upper limbs movement. Simple tasks such as raising the arm, picking up something, pulling and even when we eat or hold our food, our shoulders plays a vital role for us to be able to execute these duties. So, if the connective tissues found in the shoulder area become inflamed or stiff, even the abovementioned undemanding tasks would seem impossible to be done.

How are we able to determine if we have Frozen Shoulder or Adhesive Capsulitis? Go to your doctor immediately once you feel the first signs of shoulder pain. The first step that medical experts or clinicians do is they take or record your medical history. Here the doctor will ask you if you have been injured or if you have had some accidents wherein your shoulders got affected. Physical examinations that would help experts discover the extent of pain and its location or the limitations of movement is another step. But then proper administration could be done after more extensive diagnostic tests. Frozen pain can be further established with the use of X-ray. Next is the Arthrogram. In this method a fluid is injected in the affected muscle, joint or tissue, in this case the area called the rotator cuff. If there’s an injury, a tear or an opening, x-ray will show that the fluid outline is irregular or there are leaks in areas where there should be none. This further establishes the diagnosis that there’s indeed an abnormality. Other diagnostic tests includes the use of MRI or sometimes an anesthetic is injected around the shoulder joint before the doctor proceeds with other examinations.

No matter how Frozen Shoulder is detected, the best thing to do is visit the doctor right away once you feel something is wrong with your body.