It happened first in 2008 for months: now it’s happened again. I can’t understand it. I didn’t do anything wrong, can’t think what might have caused it but I do know that it’s painful and so frustrating….
This shoulder isn’t just cold, it’s positively glacial. Ok, it’s frozen. Yup, having experienced months of a left frozen shoulder a few years ago, it has returned and this time it’s my right shoulder. It’s an odd condition and goes through three stages – freezing, frozen and thaw, lasting up to three years. At the moment, according to the physio I visited on Thursday, I am coming to the end of the freezing, painful stage but now that the joint is stiffening up I’m becoming frozen. I feel a bit like Sid and Manny from Ice Age, desperately trying to out-run the impending tomb of immobility.
The main difficulties are bra-fastening, armpit de-fuzzing, hair-drying and generally putting clothes on. Ironing is a bit tough too but I can live without that. Bedtime is also a problem. I have positioned a big cushion down the middle of the bed so I can rest my arm on it. Dougie thinks this big divide is sending him a coded message: he peers over the Maginot line now and again with a wistful look in his eye.
I sat last night watching Andy Murray at Wimbledon and said, “I couldn’t do that”.
“Hmm”, replied Dougie, “I agree, with your arm you couldn’t play”
“No,” I said, “I don’t think I could throw a sweat-band into the air”.
It’s true. It’s that sudden movement which is an absolute killer. I stupidly swatted a fly with a tea-towel the other day and the pain was so intense I was screaming in agony. It’s short-lived pain; shoots up your neck and down into your fingers but 30 seconds later it goes away.
So what do I have to do to cure it? Gently, gently, advises the physio. She recommends hot baths and microwave wheat bags. Excellent. On Thursday she gave me some ultrasound treatment and massaged my shoulder but has suggested I lie on my back with my hands behind my head and…..well…..just lie there.
Dougie walked into the bedroom early this afternoon and I was flat-out and drifting off:
“What are you doing, you lazy tart? I thought we were going to put all the things back in the kitchen?”
“Do you mind,” I replied sleepily, “I’m doing my exercises”.
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| “Another good tug should do it” |
What hot water bottles and Radox baths were invented for. Even so, I'd rather you didn't have to go through it all. Sounds ghastly and exhausting.
oh poor you. I am prescribed ice packs not hot and my exercises are way more intense, so in that way lucky you 🙂
and at least you are still getting wistful looks, always a good sign and remember keep 'em mean, keep 'em keen 🙂
@Steve – I want them on prescription. My shoulder is as stiff as my upper lip – I'll soldier on!
@Kelloggsville – agree hot and lazy is better. Apparently humid is also good for me so booking a week in the Amazon rainforest.
As for the wistful looks, I may relax the border controls if he's lucky!
I think I'll have to agree with the cold pressure rather than a hot one. My hubby also have this weird habit of starting his shower with a hot one and usually finish it in cold he says it helps with the blood circulation and muscle tensions, I've tried it ones and I did find it very refreshing and relaxing.
The last sentence made me chuckle Trish, that sounds like my kind of exercise!
Seriously though, it sounds like it's very painful, wish I had some words of wisdom. Hope you get better soon.
Well whilst you're lying there just erm… thinking of England you may as well relax your border controls. 😉
Hope it heals quickly though, sounds horrid. x
@Cindy – I'm definitely more of a heat person: I probably should try the hot and cold shower idea as I gather it's a healthy thing to do but will pass, thank you!
@Suzanne – I was expecting all kinds of hideous exercises: last time I was given a pulley system attached to the top of the door frame!
@Very Bored – Brilliant! Two birds, one stone or is it bird in hand, two in bush?! Either way, as my right arm is out of action, the onus is very much on the husband 😉
God I so empathise with you. I spent a month attending a sport massage therapist with my painful shoulder…I had no movement in it at all. I can move it now but it's still so sore. Slowly is the only way, and keep doing the stretches and the *cough* exercises…XXX
@Jean – good to hear from a fellow sufferer. I'm hoping it will sort itself out like last time but it was some months from beginning to end. I'd forgotten how annoying the immobile stage was, though for me this tends to be when the pain goes away! I'd best go and have another lie down… er.. I mean, session of repetitions!
Oww…sounds awful! I don't know anything about frozen shoulders, but when I ruptured a disc in my lower back, my favorite accessory was an ice pack, simply because things got numb if I kept it there long enough. Whether that was good for it, I'll never know. Swift healing to you!
Good luck with your painful, frozen shoulder. Are you sure it's not some kind of bursitis? At least you are treating yourself kindly. The wheat bags sound good. I would apply those as often as I could. I hope you get better soon. I know it takes a while. Hang in there. XOX
Awww Poor Trish — So sorry to hear about your frigid/frozen shoulder. Maybe the icepack suggested should be for Dougie, but how lovely to read that the Maginot line is prompting such wistful glances — so sweet aaawwwwhhhh. Traveling to the Amazon rainforest is probably out of the question because of the pain, likewise a trip to Panama is not a journey you want to undertake otherwise you could come here for the hot/humid treatment. We are now in the rainy season, heavy rains most afternoons with temperatures around 28 Celsius, so I am going to connect with you "virtually" to aid in your recovery. In other words tomorrow I'll go down to the quebrada (stream) and lay in the hammock with a glass of wine and a good book. Now this is sacrifice!! I hope you appreciate my efforts to aid in your recuperation. I will be out of touch for at least four weeks while I lay in the hammock every day channeling healing vibrations your way. Hope you recover much quicker than that but I'm thinking the longer I spend in the hammock channeling, the stronger your shoulder will become. Shoot, if I sacrifice this way every day for six plus months you could become immune to all ailments known to man.
Ouch ouch ouch. Get yourself to an Osteopath as well… I fell down the stairs years ago, broke my ankle and a few ribs. The pain from the broken ribs was still excrutiating a year on, and the osteopath sorted that. Also fixed me when I had torticollis in my neck, I just can't bear the cracking noises when they work their magic though! Hope you are feeling better soon! Emma xx
@Ms Caroline – ice seems to be the treatment for most injuries but for some reason (must look into it further), it's definitely heat that a fozen shoulder needs. If I stay still it doesn't hurt at all!
@Nora – It's going through the same cycle/pattern as last time so I know it's definitely frozen shoulder. Mind you, my neck isn't that flexible either so my postion for sitting at computer is probably a factor too.
@Anonymous (Marion) – You would do that for me?! What a wonderfully selfless act. Do you know I really think you should write a blog – if your comments and emails to me are anything to go by, it would be a huge hit. xx
@Emma – Interestingly the physio wasn't too keen to give me much treatment as too much can lengthen the progress of the condition. I'm in the wrong phase – once it's frozen competely then it might be easier to start stretching it more and quicken up the thaw!!
Poor you…hope the 'repetitions' help…..can you still lift a tea cup/cake/gin and tonic though? must have your priorities right….
I don't think throwing one's sweatband into the air is a thing for a well-brought-up person to be doing anyway. As for flies – have you ever tried hairspray and a lighter together – such fun. Not near the curtains.
I think ice is for a sprain. Yuck. I'd say definitely heat. Definitely.
Keep up those exercises then. I've written it down and shall be joining you in spirit later.
And get that doctor of yours to buck up his bedside manner!!!
@Libby – no problem with sipping gin/tea/wine. It's anything above the head that gives me gyp!
@Madame SG – Hairpspray and a lighter – sounds a hoot.
Do write the exercises down: they are complicated and have to be done accurately. As for the doc, he has a sore right elbow, aching back and injured heels so it's wonder we can get up to anything.
Gosh Trish, that sounds awful. Do you take any of those remedies like glucosamine or whatever it is which is supposed to keep the joints supple?
@Sarah – I know glucosamine can be good for arthritic conditions but it doesn't seem to be suggested for frozen shoulder. Mind you, it probably wouldn't do any harm. I'm taking anti-inflammatories which help but to be honest, with gentle exercises, I've just got to wait for it to go through the stages and then thaw.
Oh no, sounds terribly painful! 🙁 I hope it will improve as quickly as possible… and that your hubby will let you do your exercises in peace and quiet!
@Funky – I think the stiffening process is quickening up. If I put my right arm behind my back it doesn't even reach my waist. I had real trouble undoing a skirt zip yesterday – had to wriggle it round to the front!
(amazing what I can do with my arm in front of me, though!)
You have my sympathy for all the pain you come across with this illness. And also, I would like to thank you for sharing the remedies you discover to heal the pain on your shoulder. This blog is obviously a very nice one cause there's lots of valuable info to get from here. Thanks!
Have a bit of a crook shoulder too. I'll be using that as a good excuse for a lie in. Plus I've never been able to throw a sweat band in the air and that may account for it.
@Holiday Inn – a visit to Orlando would warm up my shoulder nicely!
@About last weekend – my husband and son say I always throw and catch like a girl; terribly sexist but they're right.
That's sad to hear. I hope you will get better soon. Take care!