Dr. Arnan Sisson, PT| September 22, 2022

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 becoming 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.

If you are experiencing severe pain, and struggling to move your shoulder or upper arm, our advice would be to seek a professional opinion, as opposed to self-diagnosing and trying to treat this at home. To arrange a free physical therapy consultation with one of our expert PT’s, complete our simple web form: Arrange My Free Physical Therapy Consultation

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 their 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

Whilst 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 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 in the 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 Quickly Without Painkillers, Injections Or Surgery

To cure frozen shoulder, our patients tell us that the common solution offered to them by their MD is to take painkillers to mask the pain.

This understandably leaves people suffering with frozen shoulder frustrated.

Without physical therapy, your frozen shoulder may recover on its own – but this is a LONG and PAINFUL process.

This is where a physical therapy practice that specializes in this issue is a perfect fit for people who feel let down by the other options, or just want to be out of pain and back to their normal life as soon as possible.

At our PT practice, we understand patients don’t want to rely on painkillers, and are worried about the potentially dangerous side effects of these (or more extreme measures like injections or surgery).

To help our patients, we always try to achieve pain relief through natural methods and our team share a couple of them below which should help you relieve frozen shoulder pain.

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 massage therapy to loosen tight muscles and stiff joints

And whilst there is no instant fix, physical therapy 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.

At Sisson & Associates we have our practice in the heart of the Northern Neck (Montross) and we offer free physical therapy consultations, where you can speak to a member of our team, ask any questions that you have, and find out what can be done to cure your frozen shoulder as quickly as possible.

We can also help you understand how to strengthen your shoulder and minimize the likelihood of problems in future.

Arrange your free PT consultations with our simple webform, or if you prefer to talk over the telephone, you can call us on (804) 493-3256.

Other Free Resources For Shoulder Pain

Click Here To Read – Is Swimming Good For You If You Suffer From Shoulder Pain – Plus 5 Tips To Help You Swim Well

Click Here To Read – Simple Test To See If You “Actually” Need PT For That Shoulder Pain

Click Here To Read – Simple Exercise To Help Shoulder Blade Pain

We also have free, downloadable reports for people with Neck And Shoulder Pain

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