The shoulder is a ball-and-socket type joint that is composed of three bones: the upper arm bone (humerus), the collarbone (clavicle) and the shoulder blade (scapula).
The head of the upper part of the arm nestles into the shallow socket within the shoulder blade. Strong connecting tissues surround your joint. To allow the shoulder to move easily, synovial fluid serves as a lubricant for the joint and the shoulder capsule. In terms of frozen shoulder, the capsule thickens and ends up tightening. Stiff tissue bands, known as adhesion, end up developing.
In a number of cases, less synovial fluid is in the joint. One of the biggest signs of this condition – also known as adhesive capsulitis, is a reduced range of movement in the affected joint, with stiffness and severe pain. Most people are not able to move their shoulder as they normally would and often are unable to raise their arm above the head, regardless of whether that’s on their own or with the assistance of another individual. The condition of adhesive capsulitis usually entails a gradual onset of stiffness and increasing pain in the affected shoulder; the joint capsule tightens and inflamed.
Diagnosis is usually a combination of range-of-motion tests, performed first by the patient raising and lowering his or her arm, and then by a practitioner manipulating the shoulder joint. An X-ray or MRI may be taken of the joint to confirm the diagnosis or to rule out any other disorders.
Massage Therapy to the rescue:
Frozen shoulder is undoubtedly a debilitating and painful condition, and it is all too common.
The good news is that massage therapy can help alleviate most of this symptoms with regular treatment and following your therapist advise as it works by loosening and relaxing the stiff or seized shoulder muscles.
Sport Massage Performing specific exercises can help to restore motion , the therapy and routine stretches can significantly improve your pain associated with
Frozen Shoulder syndrome this can reduce swelling and tenderness, not just in the Shoulder, but also in the surrounding area.
There are other methods of treating frozen shoulder that could be used in conjunction with your massage therapy, such as heat therapy, exercise, physiotherapy, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications such as Ibuprofen and Aspirin that can help to reduce swelling and pain or steroid injections. In worst-case scenarios it has been necessary for a surgical procedure to be carried out in order to release the seized joint capsule
However, because frozen shoulder takes a long time to resolve (often several weeks or even months) and using anti-inflammatory for more than 2 weeks is not recommended, most frozen shoulder sufferers are likely to want to go down the massage route at some point anyway.
Tips:
• Frozen shoulder tends to occur more often in those who have diabetes, affecting around 10 to 20 percent of individuals. The reason isn’t known at this time.
• Frozen shoulder often develops following a shoulder surgery that has left the joint immobilized due to the surgery, fracture or other type of injury.
• Moving your shoulder soon after your surgery is one of the best methods for preventing frozen shoulder.
• Pain is often aching or dull. During the early part of the disease, the pain tends to be worse when you are able to move your arm. It is located over the outer part of the shoulder and into the upper arm.
• Follow the exercise rehab plan from your therapist. Failure to do regular exercises will significantly slow your recovery.