Frozen shoulder

[BT]

Anyone ever had it, treated it etc.

Is surgery the better option than PT?

[sirs]

It depends.  seriously. 

One should try anything, with surgery being the last resort.  1 good idea is a procedure referred to as manipulation under anesthesia.  Basically, you're put under a general anesthetic, and an orthopedic surgeon merely takes your shoulder thru its entire range of motion.  No actual surgery, and in theory, all the scar tissue and adhesions causing the frozen shoulder are broken up.  But you immediately have to start PT to maintain that ROM, or scar tissue will reform, and you're all frozen up again

[BT]

What is the downside to manipulation under anesthesia?

[BSB]

I'm not sure whether I had actual "frozen shoulder" or not.  I have a history of probable rotator cuff problems. They can't tell for sure because I can't have an MRI (too much shrapnel). I compounded that by taking a bad fall about 18 months ago. The net result was I could only move my shoulder a tiny bit for the better part of a year.  It's been 18 months now and I'm almost back to full range, almost. What am I getting at? Time. Time is the key ingredient.

BSB

[Christians4LessGvt]

BT these are two of the best shoulder doctors in the United States:
Dr. Agrawal in the video below dicusses "frozen shoulder".

Dr. Vivek Agrawal
The Shoulder Center
Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis)
More info on "frozen shoulder":
http://www.theshouldercenter.com/Frozen-Shoulder.htm

Frozen Shoulder Surgery: Mystery of Adhesive Capsulitis (Frozen Shoulder)


Dr. Peter Millett
Steadman Clinic
Vail, Colorado
http://thesteadmanclinic.com/Index.asp

[sirs]

What is the downside to manipulation under anesthesia?

Pretty much that the shoulder will freeze up, just as bad.  There's also the potential to some bad reaction to the anesthesia

[Christians4LessGvt]

BT....I am not sure how attracted you are to alternative medicine
but i have had a shoulder problem for many years
so I was willing to try an alternative approach
I flew to Chicago 3 times to get an alternative therapy for my shoulder
the therapy is called Prolo-Therapy
if someone suggests it for your shoulder....i would advise avoiding it
my shoulder is slightly worse after 3 treatments of Prolo-Therapy
I knew it was a risk, but decided to try it after no help for a decade
but in 20/20 hind-site I would not use Prolo-Therapy for my shoulder
here is the doctor i saw:

Prolotherapy to the Shoulder

[BT]

To be honest i'm not sure what i have is frozen shoulder. I have limited motion in both arms and normal pain levels are at an annoying 2-3. If if flex or move either arm in certain ways the pain can spike all the way to 8-9 and last anywhere from 30- 120 seconds. And the pain is centered in the triceps area instead of the shoulder as one would expect.

Xrays are scheduled for 6/2 and i have two PT sessions before then where i expect not a whole lot of improvement but a whole lot of pain.

[sirs]

To be honest i'm not sure what i have is frozen shoulder. I have limited motion in both arms and normal pain levels are at an annoying 2-3. If if flex or move either arm in certain ways the pain can spike all the way to 8-9 and last anywhere from 30- 120 seconds. And the pain is centered in the triceps area instead of the shoulder as one would expect.

ok, a few things here.....BOTH shoulders largely means something they have in common --> spinal cord.  A bulging or herniated disc could definately be the source.  The fat the pain is localized to the triceps and not the shoulder itself also tends to refute the notion that its "forozen shoulder", since that almost always is shoulder pain.  If its both triceps, that again reinforces the spinal cord angle

Question, is there any "burning", "stabbing" or "shooting" pains down the triceps?  Is there any numbness or tingling?  A yes to either of those could definately make it a cord compression issue.  A yes to both, almost confirms it

Xrays are scheduled for 6/2 and i have two PT sessions before then where i expect not a whole lot of improvement but a whole lot of pain.

That is an accurate assumption, until the source of the "freezing" has been determined, or that the shoulder has been unfrozen via surgical or manipulative means

[BT]

i had originally suspected the muscle pain was attributed to a reaction to the statins they had me on.

And if memory serves the muscle pain was first then the shoulder pain came as i favored the arms. And both the DR and the PT felt along the spinal cord and seemed to rule that out though neither test was real thorough and i wanted both of them to pop my neck so maybe its a combo of things.

When the pain is triggered in the triceps it definitely is burning stabbing and comes on like a wave.

[sirs]

X-rays will identify if there is a structural problem like stenosis, or a bone spur.  An MRI will likely identify, if any, a bulging disk or herniation.

The fact your pain is both sides, and of the nature of burning/stabbing, I lay bets that you've got some cervical spine pathology going on.  X-rays unfortunately won't spot any disk bulge or herniation, but if there is a decreased space between the vertebrae, at a certain level, (C6 and/or C7 inparticular), hopefully the doctor will order an MRI or CT follow-up

I hope they can figure it out, Bt   

[Plane]

  When you are in water and bouyancy takes the weight of your arms ,do you feel better or no diffrent?

[BT]

I am trying to recall if i have been buoyant recently.

[Plane]

  I have never had a joint freeze that badly, but based on my limited experience I reccomend a Jacuzzi.

  Or just a warm soak before range of motion exercise, this is my favoriate sort of self treatment , but the result depends a lot on the nature of the origional problem.

[BT]

I did try a very hot soak in epsom salts back in march . relief was temporary.