Rotator Cuff is a Frozen Shoulder

[Gyakuto]

I saw a specialist physiotherapist on Wednesday. She was light years better than the young grunts I’d been seeing up to now, assessing me and deciding I had a supraspinatus rotator cuff injury, giving me the same exercises that made it worse. The specialist did a lot of tests and said, “You have a frozen shoulder…maybe a little tendinopathy in the infraspinatus (a ‘mixed presentation’) but it’s mainly a frozen shoulder. Can you come in tomorrow for a joint injection?”

I arrived the next day and endured a rather painful injection into the glenoid fossa. She suggested I wait a week for it to really kick in and begin 4 capsule stretching exercises she gave me . It ached all evening and at night too but today, it feels ‘different’. Gone are the spasms pain on reaching up high but there’s still a bit of discomfort and I won’t rush into the rehab exercises for another 6 days as she suggested.

I was so pleased with her diagnostic skills and treatment ( and yes she was attractive) I wrote a letter praising her, the receptionists and the service in general to the feedback department.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

I saw a specialist physiotherapist on Wednesday. She was light years better than the young grunts I’d been seeing up to now, assessing me and deciding I had a supraspinatus rotator cuff injury, giving me the same exercises that made it worse. The specialist did a lot of tests and said, “You have a frozen shoulder…maybe a little tendinopathy in the infraspinatus (a ‘mixed presentation’) but it’s mainly a frozen shoulder. Can you come in tomorrow for a joint injection?”

I arrived the next day and endured a rather painful injection into the glenoid fossa. She suggested I wait a week for it to really kick in and begin 4 capsule stretching exercises she gave me . It ached all evening and at night too but today, it feels ‘different’. Gone are the spasms pain on reaching up high but there’s still a bit of discomfort and I won’t rush into the rehab exercises for another 6 days as she suggested.

I was so pleased with her diagnostic skills and treatment ( and yes she was attractive) I wrote a letter praising her, the receptionists and the service in general to the feedback department.

I hope you get a positive result. Suffering from shoulder issues myself at the moment. No idea what's wrong. Was originally diagnosed with tendinitis, went through several months of PT, the pain went away but the range of motion did not return. Now several months later, both shoulders hurt all the time, even when not using them, and range of motion is ridiculously small. I cannot touch my back with either hand.

 

[Gyakuto]

I hope you get a positive result. Suffering from shoulder issues myself at the moment. No idea what's wrong. Was originally diagnosed with tendinitis, went through several months of PT, the pain went away but the range of motion did not return. Now several months later, both shoulders hurt all the time, even when not using them, and range of motion is ridiculously small. I cannot touch my back with either hand.

You’re diabetic (considerably) over 50 years old? It could be frozen shoulder. Are your movements mainly limited by pain or stiffness?

 

[Bill Mattocks]

You’re diabetic (considerably) over 50 years old? It could be frozen shoulder. Are your movements mainly limited by pain or stiffness?

Pain rather than stiffness.

 

[_Simon_]

EXCELLENT, great to hear

 

[Buka]

My right shoulder always hurts. Unfortunately, out here there’s only witch doctors. And it’s difficult finding eye of newt.

 

[O'Malley]

I saw a specialist physiotherapist on Wednesday. She was light years better than the young grunts I’d been seeing up to now, assessing me and deciding I had a supraspinatus rotator cuff injury, giving me the same exercises that made it worse. The specialist did a lot of tests and said, “You have a frozen shoulder…maybe a little tendinopathy in the infraspinatus (a ‘mixed presentation’) but it’s mainly a frozen shoulder. Can you come in tomorrow for a joint injection?”

I arrived the next day and endured a rather painful injection into the glenoid fossa. She suggested I wait a week for it to really kick in and begin 4 capsule stretching exercises she gave me . It ached all evening and at night too but today, it feels ‘different’. Gone are the spasms pain on reaching up high but there’s still a bit of discomfort and I won’t rush into the rehab exercises for another 6 days as she suggested.

I was so pleased with her diagnostic skills and treatment ( and yes she was attractive) I wrote a letter praising her, the receptionists and the service in general to the feedback department.

Can't the BFR bulge stuff help with your shoulder recovery?

My right shoulder always hurts. Unfortunately, out here there’s only witch doctors. And it’s difficult finding eye of newt.

- Doctor, can you help me with my shoulder pain?
- Yes, wiccan.

 

[Gyakuto]

Can't the BFR bulge stuff help with your shoulder recovery?

Frozen shoulder is caused by the inflammation and contraction of the capsule that encapsulates the joint. The capsule needs to be stretched out and inflammation controlled. BFR training seems to be effective for muscle hypertrophy although the general increase in growth hormone it causes might help with general healing. Also, the cuffs only fit up to the top of the arms/legs so the build up of metabolites won’t directly work on the shoulder but the systemic flood that occurs when the cuffs are release may have a diluted, general positive.

I’m really ‘enjoying’ BFR training on my off days. The deep muscle ache/soreness it produces is very…’satisfying’. I’m don't think I’m doing it enough as I struggle to fit it into my training schedule; I don’t want it to interfere with the normal ‘heavy lifting’ I do at the gym.

- Doctor, can you help me with my shoulder pain?
- Yes, wiccan.

The design that allows the shoulder joint’s huge range of motion is also it’s downfall. Shoulder issues are so common too and my Japanese friends tell me they even have an expression for it goju/rokuju kata just or ‘50/60 [year old] shoulder’!

 

[Gyakuto]

I’m really fed up of doing my frozen shoulder stretching exercises. They take about 20 minutes to perform, they hurt and I have to do them 5-8 times evenly spread throughout the day. But I’m a compliant person so I’ll continue doing them.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Shoulder issues are so common too and my Japanese friends tell me they even have an expression for it goju/rokuju kata just or ‘50/60 [year old] shoulder’!

Not wanting a "50/60-year-old shoulder" I just jumped right to the 70-year-old shoulder and am doing fine in that department. I think working with bo (and other weapons) kata helped as it dynamically works the shoulders pretty good.

 

[Gyakuto]

Not wanting a "50/60-year-old shoulder" I just jumped right to the 70-year-old shoulder and am doing fine in that department. I think working with bo (and other weapons) kata helped as it dynamically works the shoulders pretty good.

You’d hope swinging a sword around would do that too!

 

[Gyakuto]

The stretching exercises are working! My physio reassessed me and I do have increased range of motion in all planes. She introduced another stretch and I’m finding I get a lot less pain and am not waking up at night as a consequence (who knows if the two are causally linked).

Being the sort of compliment person I am, I was really ‘going for it’ with regards the stretching exercises, doing them 10 times a day over the Christmas period and got thoroughly sick of them. I was subsequently advised to ease back a little as my over enthusiasm is probably contributing to my pain. So I now do them just 4 times, evenly spread through the day, use a hot water bottle to warm the joint capsule which makes them less unpleasant and allows me to push them a bit further.

I’m very pleased.

 

[windwalker099]

Good to hear, you're seeing results.
Have you ever thought about deep tissue massage..something like rolfing ?
Understand it's a little painful,,,who knows, you might like it

 

[Buka]

I worked as an aide in a Physical Therapy unit for five years. Aides go out to the waiting room, greet the patient with their file in hand, get them comfortable on a PT table, apply heat or ice and hook them up to whatever modalities the Therapist’s chart says to, TENS, NMES etc.

Then we helped them with the exercises the Therapist had prescribed. The particular place I worked in specialized in young athletes and old people. (Strange mix)

We dealt with a lot of different injuries, from knee replacements, hip replacements, shoulder replacements, ACL tears and all their cousins, torn hamstrings etc.

One thing I learned was shoulder problems were by far the most complex and different. Obviously due to their structure.

Advice to young Martial Artists, build your shoulders strong. Ask your instructors how. If they don’t know ask someone else. (That’s no knock on instructors, we’re not doctors.)

Shoulders are very complex and tricky.

 

[Gyakuto]

I did ask the physio if active stretching with an assistant, deep tissue massage etc might help and she said the research didn’t suggest they were anymore effective than the exercises she was giving me (for free, of course). I did check the research and they concurred with her.

This is working so I’ll continue.

 

[Gyakuto]

I worked as an aide in a Physical Therapy unit for five years. Aides go out to the waiting room, greet the patient with their file in hand, get them comfortable on a PT table, apply heat or ice and hook them up to whatever modalities the Therapist’s chart says to, TENS, NMES etc.

Then we helped them with the exercises the Therapist had prescribed. The particular place I worked in specialized in young athletes and old people. (Strange mix)

We dealt with a lot of different injuries, from knee replacements, hip replacements, shoulder replacements, ACL tears and all their cousins, torn hamstrings etc.

One thing I learned was shoulder problems were by far the most complex and different. Obviously due to their structure.

Advice to young Martial Artists, build your shoulders strong. Ask your instructors how. If they don’t know ask someone else. (That’s no knock on instructors, we’re not doctors.)

Shoulders are very complex and tricky.

Yes, they are tricky! The shoulder’s wide range of motion (ROM) is down to having a relatively shallow socket (only a third of the numeral head sits in the socket) allowing it to move very freely. In order to keep the head in that shallow socket we have lithe rotator cuff muscles which are prone to damage through tearing/straining.

A frozen shoulder is different. The numeral head and socket have a sheath encapsulating it all; a bit like a gaiter on a gear stick. In a frozen shoulder, for some unknown reason, that ‘gaiter’ contracts and stiffens (freezes) limiting range of motion and causing pain. When it’s fully frozen, the ROM is at it’s most reduced but the pain is noticeably lessened. This phase can last 2-3 years if untreated. Then it begins to thaw and it becomes less stiff with a better ROM and is pain-free but if the thaw is an untreated type, the ROM will not return to a normal level. Initiating a thaw via exercises means your more likely to reestablish a normal ROM.

Interesting, eh?

 

[Buka]

Yes, they are tricky! The shoulder’s wide range of motion (ROM) is down to having a relatively shallow socket (only a third of the numeral head sits in the socket) allowing it to move very freely. In order to keep the head in that shallow socket we have lithe rotator cuff muscles which are prone to damage through tearing/straining.

A frozen shoulder is different. The numeral head and socket have a sheath encapsulating it all; a bit like a gaiter on a gear stick. In a frozen shoulder, for some unknown reason, that ‘gaiter’ contracts and stiffens (freezes) limiting range of motion and causing pain. When it’s fully frozen, the ROM is at it’s most reduced but the pain is noticeably lessened. This phase can last 2-3 years if untreated. Then it begins to thaw and it becomes less stiff with a better ROM and is pain-free but if the thaw is an untreated type, the ROM will not return to a normal level. Initiating a thaw via exercises means your more likely to reestablish a normal ROM.

Interesting, eh?

It is very interesting. Especially how different the symptoms, the rehab, and the ROM are in what appears to be the exact same circumstances among people. And I’m not talking about people of vastly different ages or levels of fitness.

Shoulders are just plain weird.

 

[Gyakuto]

It is very interesting. Especially how different the symptoms, the rehab, and the ROM are in what appears to be the exact same circumstances among people. And I’m not talking about people of vastly different ages or levels of fitness.

Shoulders are just plain weird.

The risk factors for frozen shoulder are 1) Being male 2) Being old(er) 3) Diabetes

This is the book from which I get my basic information. Just looking at that photo of the tennis player make my shoulder ache!

 

[Buka]

The risk factors for frozen shoulder are 1) Being male 2) Being old(er) 3) Diabetes

This is the book from which I get my basic information. Just looking at that photo of the tennis player make my shoulder ache!
View attachment 32586

Yeah, that photo gave me a little shoulder twinge, too.