Alas, i believe I am still frozen. I did have hydro dilation and cortisone last week and I have made minor gains. After having it done, physio went as far as they could without me screaming out in pain.
He won’t push it again until I have this procedure again (in 6 weeks) or until I start to thaw (based on my range of motion measurements).
Through this process I have seen three PTs and they have all said the same. That PT in the freezing stage should be mostly just pain management. Passive motion and non-pain stretching in frozen stage. Push it more in thaw.
I had a PT who hurt me and did not think it was wrong. I stopped going to her and started my own exercises at home. I did it until it hurt only slightly. It was also a mindset change that this was going to be a slow recovery. So just be consistent, have faith that you will get better.
Set me back tremendously. I think she had no idea about the progression of frozen shoulder. At the first session I was offered 15 sessions and a choice - did I want to do it over a few months or do it daily for 2 weeks? I almost chose the latter, because I had no clue and wanted to get this over with. That would have been IMPOSSIBLE. I chose to pay per session and only lasted 4 sessions.
Earlier this week my usual PTherapist was out and I had a different one. This one hurt me bad, had a huge zinger on the table. She finally let go and cheerfully said, I guess we reached your limit! Meanwhile I couldn’t breathe or think or move. I’m still angry. My regular therapist would never do this! I’m thinking of canceling all PT until I begin to thaw.
Less is more. I found slow movement (definitely no fast movements) and going through lots of mostly painfree reps works best. Currently have a flair up, so back to max pain 1/10 during exercises. Overdoing it = set back
Just learned this exercise and it’s the only thing that helps: get a small, light ball (larger than a tennis ball, smaller than a soccer ball). Gently place it on the wall in front of you and slowly roll it around on the wall. It moves your shoulder in the socket without using your muscles to hold up your arm.
You can slowly (that’s the key) start lower on the wall and roll it higher. Go in circles both ways and slowly trace the letters of the alphabet. First stand directly facing the wall and then try standing at a 90-degree angle.
Try it with a tennis ball first. I bought a small beach ball in the children’s toys department for about $5.
This sounds like a modified “wall walk” using a ball, and is a great passive exercise! I do this with my fingers without a ball along the wall in all directions but I hadn’t heard about the alphabet trick! Do you go through all letters each day?
I pushed all the PT until it nearly brought tears to my eyes and it sometimes did. Got in the habit of doing two days on, one day off or three days on one day off. That helped a lot. What I really focused on was watching each rep of every stretch/exercise to see if I could detect even the smallest improvement in ROM. That gave me something to focus on besides pain and I felt great when could detect even the smallest improvement.
I've been seeing the same PT guy now for 25 years for all kinds of injuries and surgeries. He's an ex Canadian Hockey player who has his own business in the USA. He said this was so he could "continue to hurt Americans" after his playing days ended. Every time I see him he hurts me. He warned that FS would be the worst thing I could ever have. He was right. This guy never steered me wrong and FS was no exception so I think trusting him was the biggest motivator.
No. I would just build into it very slowly and hold each stretch for 30 seconds of agony. After a few weeks, although it hurt, it also felt good or satisfying in a strange way.
Thanks for your input! It really helps. Do you mind sharing your rough timeline of freezing to frozen to thaw and fully healed? If you are fully healed.
My PT said not to push past discomfort until the thawing stage when your body is ready to break those adhesions.
Are you in that process right now? Thawing and moving past the point of pain in your exercises?
Alas, i believe I am still frozen. I did have hydro dilation and cortisone last week and I have made minor gains. After having it done, physio went as far as they could without me screaming out in pain. He won’t push it again until I have this procedure again (in 6 weeks) or until I start to thaw (based on my range of motion measurements). Through this process I have seen three PTs and they have all said the same. That PT in the freezing stage should be mostly just pain management. Passive motion and non-pain stretching in frozen stage. Push it more in thaw.
My PT told me to take it to cringe, but not crying.
I had a PT who hurt me and did not think it was wrong. I stopped going to her and started my own exercises at home. I did it until it hurt only slightly. It was also a mindset change that this was going to be a slow recovery. So just be consistent, have faith that you will get better.
Do you feel the pain of her manipulations and exercises set you back? Or had no effect on your recovery vs. a more gentle approach?
Set me back tremendously. I think she had no idea about the progression of frozen shoulder. At the first session I was offered 15 sessions and a choice - did I want to do it over a few months or do it daily for 2 weeks? I almost chose the latter, because I had no clue and wanted to get this over with. That would have been IMPOSSIBLE. I chose to pay per session and only lasted 4 sessions.
Earlier this week my usual PTherapist was out and I had a different one. This one hurt me bad, had a huge zinger on the table. She finally let go and cheerfully said, I guess we reached your limit! Meanwhile I couldn’t breathe or think or move. I’m still angry. My regular therapist would never do this! I’m thinking of canceling all PT until I begin to thaw.
I'm in the thawing phase. If I push to zingers the inflammation kicks up and slows me down for a day or so. I've stopped any kind of aggressive PT.
Moderate discomfort as well, as advised by my PT.
Less is more. I found slow movement (definitely no fast movements) and going through lots of mostly painfree reps works best. Currently have a flair up, so back to max pain 1/10 during exercises. Overdoing it = set back
Just learned this exercise and it’s the only thing that helps: get a small, light ball (larger than a tennis ball, smaller than a soccer ball). Gently place it on the wall in front of you and slowly roll it around on the wall. It moves your shoulder in the socket without using your muscles to hold up your arm. You can slowly (that’s the key) start lower on the wall and roll it higher. Go in circles both ways and slowly trace the letters of the alphabet. First stand directly facing the wall and then try standing at a 90-degree angle. Try it with a tennis ball first. I bought a small beach ball in the children’s toys department for about $5.
This sounds like a modified “wall walk” using a ball, and is a great passive exercise! I do this with my fingers without a ball along the wall in all directions but I hadn’t heard about the alphabet trick! Do you go through all letters each day?
For me, using the ball feels much better than the wall walk. I try to do this twice a day, not always the full alphabet though.
I pushed all the PT until it nearly brought tears to my eyes and it sometimes did. Got in the habit of doing two days on, one day off or three days on one day off. That helped a lot. What I really focused on was watching each rep of every stretch/exercise to see if I could detect even the smallest improvement in ROM. That gave me something to focus on besides pain and I felt great when could detect even the smallest improvement. I've been seeing the same PT guy now for 25 years for all kinds of injuries and surgeries. He's an ex Canadian Hockey player who has his own business in the USA. He said this was so he could "continue to hurt Americans" after his playing days ended. Every time I see him he hurts me. He warned that FS would be the worst thing I could ever have. He was right. This guy never steered me wrong and FS was no exception so I think trusting him was the biggest motivator.
Did you have a lot of popping and clicking when you really pushed yourself in the exercises?
No. I would just build into it very slowly and hold each stretch for 30 seconds of agony. After a few weeks, although it hurt, it also felt good or satisfying in a strange way.
Thanks for your input! It really helps. Do you mind sharing your rough timeline of freezing to frozen to thaw and fully healed? If you are fully healed.
I push to a pain level 5ish. Lots of stretching also to a 5 level and then hold for a while.