Have you tried exercises for frozen shoulder?
I ask that because I kind of imagine that most people reading this will be suffering from shoulder pain themselves ... or at least will know someone with a frozen shoulder pain problem.
My family doctor sent me to a physiotherapist for some exercise treatment after only about six weeks of my problems. Now - the girl did try very hard, and she was very nice to me, but I have to say honestly that those frozen shoulder exercises were AGONY !
I often had to lie down for an hour or so when I got home from the sessions. My arm pain was just raging and seemed to spread right down to my hand after the exercise and stretching sessions.
It was only later when I read Doctor Cameron's book that I discovered that exercises too early in the frozen shoulder situation can actually aggravate things. It seems that the best time to do exercises is near to the end of the business - when the frozen shoudler is in its thawing out stage. Of course, there was no way for me to know that so I just assumed that I must be making a meal of it and tried to just plod on as normal.
I've since spoken to lots of people who've gained help from the effects of frozen shoulder exercises so please don't think I'm being negative about them. I'm not .... I just know that they were very painful for me.
Let me know about your experiences - share and we can all benefit.
Kathy
Monday
A pain down my arm
One of the strangest things about my frozen shoulder is that way that it seems difficult to work out where the pain is.
One minute it seems to be in my shoulder, the next its cold and around my elbow and then there's just the weirdest kind of feeling in my hand. This hand pain is very strange sometimes. I just can't really put into words what it feels like. One minute it's cold, the next hot. One minute crampy feeling and then just dull.
I think this must be what they call referred pain in the arm - a pain where the brain gets mixed up about where the pain is coming from. That's appropriate for me - my brain gets mixed up about all kinds of things all the time so there's no reason pain should be an exception :-)
I've discovered that if I rest my arm I can keep the pain levels low. If I feel tired then the pain seems to spread down to the elbow and any sudden movement brings me up short with a horrible cold pain all the way down to my hand. This last pain is enough to bring tears to my eyes at times - it really does stop me in my tracks. I hate it.
Each day I wake up and hope for some improvement. Some days I think I've found it and then it's back to the start again an hour later. It's hard to keep my spirits up but I'm coping ... for the moment.
K
One minute it seems to be in my shoulder, the next its cold and around my elbow and then there's just the weirdest kind of feeling in my hand. This hand pain is very strange sometimes. I just can't really put into words what it feels like. One minute it's cold, the next hot. One minute crampy feeling and then just dull.
I think this must be what they call referred pain in the arm - a pain where the brain gets mixed up about where the pain is coming from. That's appropriate for me - my brain gets mixed up about all kinds of things all the time so there's no reason pain should be an exception :-)
I've discovered that if I rest my arm I can keep the pain levels low. If I feel tired then the pain seems to spread down to the elbow and any sudden movement brings me up short with a horrible cold pain all the way down to my hand. This last pain is enough to bring tears to my eyes at times - it really does stop me in my tracks. I hate it.
Each day I wake up and hope for some improvement. Some days I think I've found it and then it's back to the start again an hour later. It's hard to keep my spirits up but I'm coping ... for the moment.
K
Sunday
Natural Remedies And Frozen Shoulder
I have to be honest here and say right up front that I'm not a pill taker kind of person. Ever since I was a little girl I've hated the idea of taking medicine or tablets - much to the annoyance of Bill (my husband) who doesn't have any such hangups.
So ... it's always been my inclincation to look for natural ways to treat things and my frozen shoulder is no different.
I'll cut to the chase and tell you that I eventually found acupuncture for frozen shoulder to be the best option for me but here are some other things I tried - with notes attached in the hope that it helps you. Same as before please - if you can add to this list then please please leave a message for me.
Acupuncture - worked really well to ease the pain. Still a bit stiff but went for treatment every third day for a while. Acupuncture treatment not nearly as bad as I feared it would be.
Homeopathic treatment - went to see a local homeopathic natural doctor. Gave me some little tablets but I'm not sure what they were. Took them every day for three weeks near the start of my frozen shoulder problem but did not find them helpful
Reiki - two gos at this. Lovely woman did the treatments. Lovely and relaxing. No help for me though. Same story with reflexology - same woman actually.
Herbal treatments - Comfrey and Arnica tablets - made me more relaxed and I slept with less pain at night but I would say the impact was only slight. Maybe I didn't persist long enough because my friend said they had worked really well when she had a back pain.
Bowen therapy for frozen shoulder - I tried and tried to find a Bowen Therapist because I'd heard so much about it but could not find anyone local. Nearest was about 200 miles away for me - too far to travel in winter. I've read lots of good reports about Bowen Treatment for shoulder pains so this is definitely something you should look out for if you have joint pains or joint problems.
OK - will write more tomorrow. If you have a shoulder pain then I hope you're finding some comfort
Kathy
So ... it's always been my inclincation to look for natural ways to treat things and my frozen shoulder is no different.
I'll cut to the chase and tell you that I eventually found acupuncture for frozen shoulder to be the best option for me but here are some other things I tried - with notes attached in the hope that it helps you. Same as before please - if you can add to this list then please please leave a message for me.
Acupuncture - worked really well to ease the pain. Still a bit stiff but went for treatment every third day for a while. Acupuncture treatment not nearly as bad as I feared it would be.
Homeopathic treatment - went to see a local homeopathic natural doctor. Gave me some little tablets but I'm not sure what they were. Took them every day for three weeks near the start of my frozen shoulder problem but did not find them helpful
Reiki - two gos at this. Lovely woman did the treatments. Lovely and relaxing. No help for me though. Same story with reflexology - same woman actually.
Herbal treatments - Comfrey and Arnica tablets - made me more relaxed and I slept with less pain at night but I would say the impact was only slight. Maybe I didn't persist long enough because my friend said they had worked really well when she had a back pain.
Bowen therapy for frozen shoulder - I tried and tried to find a Bowen Therapist because I'd heard so much about it but could not find anyone local. Nearest was about 200 miles away for me - too far to travel in winter. I've read lots of good reports about Bowen Treatment for shoulder pains so this is definitely something you should look out for if you have joint pains or joint problems.
OK - will write more tomorrow. If you have a shoulder pain then I hope you're finding some comfort
Kathy
Heat for my shoulder pain
Have you tried heat for your frozen shoulder pain?
At first I thought that ice would be the right thing - the pain was so bad sometimes that I just had to do something to try to relieve it. I got one of those instant ice packs from the local pharmacy and used it for about three days - no good at all I'm afraid to say.
Then I decided to give heat a go.
A hot rub cream was no good. A heat spray only made my eyes water and some massage oil felt nice but messed up my clothes pretty well !
But heat eventually did make a big difference. One of my friends gave me a wheat filled little bag that I heated up in the microwave for two minutes or so at a time. It had a lovely lavender smell to it - I can still smell it if I close my eyes for a second or two.
Anyway - the heat from that seemed moist and soothing and penetrated really deeply into my shoulder joint. I started using it several times a day and also last thing at night before I tried to go to sleep. Worked a treat for me - didn't cure the condition but it certainly made it easier to handle.
Another friend let me borrow a powerful heat lamp but this was too clunky and large to get much use out of. You might find it helpful though if you want to try one.
So - my recommendation if you have a frozen shoulder too is to try simple heat from a little wheat filled bag. Simple, cheap, portable ... and very effective for my shoulder
Speak again soon
Kathy
At first I thought that ice would be the right thing - the pain was so bad sometimes that I just had to do something to try to relieve it. I got one of those instant ice packs from the local pharmacy and used it for about three days - no good at all I'm afraid to say.
Then I decided to give heat a go.
A hot rub cream was no good. A heat spray only made my eyes water and some massage oil felt nice but messed up my clothes pretty well !
But heat eventually did make a big difference. One of my friends gave me a wheat filled little bag that I heated up in the microwave for two minutes or so at a time. It had a lovely lavender smell to it - I can still smell it if I close my eyes for a second or two.
Anyway - the heat from that seemed moist and soothing and penetrated really deeply into my shoulder joint. I started using it several times a day and also last thing at night before I tried to go to sleep. Worked a treat for me - didn't cure the condition but it certainly made it easier to handle.
Another friend let me borrow a powerful heat lamp but this was too clunky and large to get much use out of. You might find it helpful though if you want to try one.
So - my recommendation if you have a frozen shoulder too is to try simple heat from a little wheat filled bag. Simple, cheap, portable ... and very effective for my shoulder
Speak again soon
Kathy
What is frozen shoulder?
What is a frozen shoulder?
That's what I asked my doctor ... my therapist ... my family ... and pretty much everyone else in earshot - needless to say they all got a bit fed up of me and my questions.
But what is it?
Here's what I eventually discovered - thanks to Doctor Cameron's frozen shoulder book.
It turns out that frozen shoulder is a condition that happens mostly to women in their fifties and sixties. I don't have diabetes - my doctor tested me for this and it was negative. Frozen shoulder is much more common in diabetes patients.
From what I understand - and I think this is correct but leave me a note at the bottom if it isn't - the shoulder joint gets a bit inflamed inside and then gets sticky. The sticky fluid from the inflammation makes the bits of the joint stick to each other inside. This causes it to be stiff and painful - very painful sometimes. I don't know about you if you have frozen shoulder too but sudden movements of my arm really stop me in my tracks with the pain of it all.
I was very worried that I had arthritis but Doctor Gordon Cameron says that frozen shoulder is not usually a form of arthritis - it gets better eventually in nearly everyone.
Have you had frozen shoulder too?
Let me know how you found the experience?
K
PS - I saw that it said Robin's name at the bottom of each note I write to you. Robin is my son in law. He helped me start this up.
That's what I asked my doctor ... my therapist ... my family ... and pretty much everyone else in earshot - needless to say they all got a bit fed up of me and my questions.
But what is it?
Here's what I eventually discovered - thanks to Doctor Cameron's frozen shoulder book.
It turns out that frozen shoulder is a condition that happens mostly to women in their fifties and sixties. I don't have diabetes - my doctor tested me for this and it was negative. Frozen shoulder is much more common in diabetes patients.
From what I understand - and I think this is correct but leave me a note at the bottom if it isn't - the shoulder joint gets a bit inflamed inside and then gets sticky. The sticky fluid from the inflammation makes the bits of the joint stick to each other inside. This causes it to be stiff and painful - very painful sometimes. I don't know about you if you have frozen shoulder too but sudden movements of my arm really stop me in my tracks with the pain of it all.
I was very worried that I had arthritis but Doctor Gordon Cameron says that frozen shoulder is not usually a form of arthritis - it gets better eventually in nearly everyone.
Have you had frozen shoulder too?
Let me know how you found the experience?
K
PS - I saw that it said Robin's name at the bottom of each note I write to you. Robin is my son in law. He helped me start this up.
My painful frozen shoulder
Hello
This is the first post on my new blog. My grand daughter Jess told me I should do this - I've never been a "blogger" before.
My name is Katherine S Jones but everyone just calls me Kathy. I'm sixty six years old and my health has always been good .... good until two months ago at least when I developed a pain in my left shoulder. Frozen shoulder as it turns out to be.
I don't recall a shoulder injury except maybe a tiny tweak. The pain just seemed to start out of nowhere.
My shoulder pain got worse and worse for about two weeks. I went to see my local family doctor who said he thought it was just a muscle injury - but when things did not get better I saw a specialist shoulder doctor who told me that I had a frozen shoulder - or adhesive capsulitis as he called it.
He told me that all I could do was take painkillers ( which I hate to do - always have ) and maybe get some physical therapy.
So much for experts !
Any ways - I'll be back with more details shortly - just want to see how this first attempt will turn out.
Kathy
This is the first post on my new blog. My grand daughter Jess told me I should do this - I've never been a "blogger" before.
My name is Katherine S Jones but everyone just calls me Kathy. I'm sixty six years old and my health has always been good .... good until two months ago at least when I developed a pain in my left shoulder. Frozen shoulder as it turns out to be.
I don't recall a shoulder injury except maybe a tiny tweak. The pain just seemed to start out of nowhere.
My shoulder pain got worse and worse for about two weeks. I went to see my local family doctor who said he thought it was just a muscle injury - but when things did not get better I saw a specialist shoulder doctor who told me that I had a frozen shoulder - or adhesive capsulitis as he called it.
He told me that all I could do was take painkillers ( which I hate to do - always have ) and maybe get some physical therapy.
So much for experts !
Any ways - I'll be back with more details shortly - just want to see how this first attempt will turn out.
Kathy
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