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The human body is designed in such a way that our joints are meant to facilitate movement, so when they become stiff and are affected by injury or illness, we feel a great deal of pain and our activities are limited. Most people are familiar with arthritis which is literally crippling and which affects most people as they become old, especially if they lead sedentary lives; but not everyone is familiar with an equivalent kind of debilitating pain in the upper body which affects your shoulders – it’s commonly known as frozen shoulder pain and also by its medical name adhesive capsulitis.

Symptoms include a nagging and sometimes painful ache in your shoulder, stiffness of the joint, and loss of movement. The pain is caused by the shoulder capsule becoming inflamed and stiff. While no one knows exactly why frozen shoulder occurs, it is widely believed that it may be an autoimmune disease where the body attacks the shoulder tissue and depletes the fluid in your shoulder joints. Poor posture and hormonal and genetic illnesses are also thought to be causes for this ailment.

The symptoms and pain can last for around five months or more if you don’t treat it properly (see this link for far quicker recovery!), depending on the patient.

• The pain could get intense and severe at times, so you will have to depend on natural anti-inflammatories such as cissus, bromelain, and proteolytic enzymes.
  
• Warm compresses help relieve some of the pain and enable you to sleep peacefully
• Some people prefer massages to help alleviate the pain. Heat and massage increase blood flow to the affected area and help to bring down the dull ache that could become too much to bear.
• Others turn to acupuncture and other alternative therapies like water therapy for pain relief.
• Physical therapists are able to help some patients manage the pain by taking them through a set of exercises that are designed to improve mobility of the joint and enhance blood flow to the shoulder.
• In extreme cases, surgical intervention is needed to rectify the problem or cope with the pain. The procedure is carried out through arthroscopy, and patients have to undergo physical therapy to regain range of motion and flexibility in their shoulders.

If you have trouble sleeping, try putting a pillow under your shoulder to help relieve residual pain.

By-line:

This article is written by Shannon Wills, who writes on the topic of Physical Therapy Assistant Schools . She welcomes your comments at her email id : shannonwills23@gmail.com .

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