How To Cure Frozen Shoulder Quickly Without Painkillers, Injections Or Surgery

If you’re suffering with frozen shoulder, there is no magic pill or instant fix.
We understand that this will be hard to hear…

However, there are ways to speed up recovery, minimize your discomfort and improve your movement without relying on painkillers, injections or surgery.

In this article, we will discuss how to cure frozen shoulder quickly without painkillers, injections or surgery.

What Is A Frozen Shoulder?

Frozen shoulder is a condition that affects your shoulder joint, and means your shoulder is painful and stiff for months, sometimes years.

As well as the physical pain, our patients who come to us with frozen shoulder struggle with their usual day to day activities and it can leave them reliant upon their relatives.

The pain and discomfort is caused by the surrounding tissue become inflamed, which means it becomes tighter and causes pain.

Over time, this can create scar tissue, and a reduction in fluid that keeps the joint lubricated and moving freely. When this occurs, it’s hard for your shoulder joint to move freely which is why your range of motion is limited.

What Is Frozen Shoulder Pain Like?

Frozen shoulder pain is usually a dull, or achy pain in the affected shoulder. This pain can also radiate to the muscles surrounding the shoulder, and in the upper arm.

It is also common for frozen shoulder pain to become more uncomfortable at night, which makes sleeping harder.

What Causes Frozen Shoulder?

There is no clear reason why people develop frozen shoulder, however there are certain people who are more susceptible to it.

For example, patients with frozen shoulder who visit our physiotherapy clinics are most often women, aged 40 and older. It can still affect younger people, and men, but this is less common.

There is also a higher risk for people who have had injuries or surgeries that stop your shoulder and arm from moving normally, and those with certain medical conditions.

Why Is Frozen Shoulder Pain Worse At Night?

If you have frozen shoulder, you might be wondering why frozen shoulder pain is worse at night.

At night, blood flow naturally slows down in combination with a reduction in other bodily functions like kidney filtration. Over the course of a night, slow blood flow and reduced water filtration by the kidneys lead to higher water retention. This means that your internal pressure increases across your whole body, and your already inflamed shoulder, becomes more painful.

This problem occurs for all inflammatory conditions, not just frozen shoulder, however there are things that you can do to reduce the impact, and make a good night’s sleep more likely.

How To Sleep With A Frozen Shoulder

A lack of sleep, or poor sleep, can really wreck our moods, leave us with low energy and also have a big impact in the ability for your body to heal. Frozen shoulder, especially during the early stages, can make it very difficult to sleep.

To help you sleep with a frozen shoulder, some simple tips are:

• If you sleep on your side, don’t sleep on the affected shoulder. While this might sound obvious, you might find that you’ve rolled over during the night to your preferred side and woken up in agony. To avoid this, sleep on your non-affected side, and place pillows behind your back to stop you rolling over.
• If you sleep on the opposite side, place a pillow between your arm body to provide support and prevent it from falling across your body during the night which can be a painful position for extended periods.
• If you sleep on your back, place a pillow under your affected arm, with your hand resting on your stomach.
• Avoid sleeping on your stomach if at all possible, as this position is going to place your shoulder joint in an unstable position which could lead to pain, and even further damage.
• Use light stretching exercises on an evening which can relax some tightened muscles connected to the shoulder joint and allow you to fall asleep with less pain.

How To Cure Frozen Shoulder As Quickly As Possible Without Painkillers, Injections Or Surgery

And whilst there is no instant fix, physiotherapy can speed up recovery from frozen shoulder and make it much more manageable.

This enables you to carry on with your life, and once the frozen shoulder has passed, keep your shoulder joint healthy to reduce the chances of it returning.

Our approach to helping you resolve your frozen shoulder pain as quickly as possible involves the following components:

1. Natural pain relief advice which reduces inflammation in the shoulder joint
2. Lifestyle advice so that you aren’t making the problem worse, and can spend less time in pain throughout your day
3. Tailored exercise plans specific to you which speed up recovery and minimize the chance of shoulder problems returning in future
4. Stretching and manual therapy techniques to loosen tight muscles and stiff joints

If you’d like some help determining if your pain is a result of a frozen shoulder and if it can be resolved through our physical therapy services try clicking one of the links below to connect with a member of our team.

Hope to see you soon!

~ Dr. Dallin Page