Frozen Shoulder Treatment Options

Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis, is a disabling condition capable of causing pain and reduced range of motion in the shoulder joint. It is caused by tissue adhesions forming inside the shoulder joint, which adhere your shoulder capsule to bone and restricts movement.

Frozen shoulder affects about 5 percent of the general population.

Frozen shoulder usually develops in three stages. The stage and severity of a patient’s frozen shoulder determines the ideal treatment protocol. Stage one is the freezing and painful stage, which lasts about 3 to 9 months. The pain is due to inflammation of the synovium, the lining surrounding your shoulder joint. This is followed by the second stage without increased pain which lasts 4 to 12 months. At this transitional stage, shoulder movement becomes very limited and the shoulder feels “frozen”. During the third stage, your range of motion begins to improve. This last stage is called the thawing stage and can last 12 to 14 months.

Frozen Shoulder Treatment

• Anti-inflammatory Medications & Physiotherapy

Early treatment of the inflammation present at the first stage of frozen shoulder symptoms, using medications and physiotherapy can help prevent tissue adhesions from forming.

• Corticosteroid Injection

If pain continues to limit your physical therapy, intra-joint corticosteroid injections may be indicated to reduce the inflammation in afrozen shoulder. If done properly, a corticosteroid injection should reduce your pain enough to allow you an increased range of motion during exercise for your frozen shoulder.

• Shoulder Manipulation Under Anesthesia

Manipulation for a frozen shoulder must be performed under general anesthetic, which means you will be unconscious during the procedure. Frozen shoulder manipulation under anesthesia will allow an orthopaedic surgeon to move your shoulder more forcefully than possible during regular physiotherapy. The manipulations will likely release the adhesions in your shoulder joint, thus increasing its mobility.

• Arthroscopic Surgery

Often, shoulder manipulation and arthroscopic surgery can be combined for excellent results if no other treatment has provided you with frozen shoulder relief. Arthroscopic surgery is performed under general anesthesia by inserting surgical instruments into small incisions around your shoulder and cutting tissue that will allow increased shoulder mobility. Also, the surgeon can view your joint during this surgery, and determine if any abnormalities may be present that contributed to the development of your frozen shoulder

• Indiba Activ

Using an externally applied radiofrequency probe, the Indiba Activ an ideal treatment option for frozen shoulder. Used by top atheletes around the world, this non-invasive option is rapidly gaining popularity among patients with frozen shoulder.
If you are suffering from frozen shoulder pain, or if your condition has not improved despite standard treatments and have been told to consider surgery,

simply call us at +65 6732 2397 or leave a message below for Dr Tan to discuss a customized non-invasive solution for you.