Your shoulders are the most flexible joints in your body. They’re not weight-bearing, but they have a wider range of motion than any other joint. The downside of that freedom of movement is that your shoulders are more susceptible to damage than any other joint in your body. Frozen shoulder or adhesive capsulitis is often a result of an injury. Adhesive capsulitis treatments at pain management New York City heal your joint and allow you to return to an active lifestyle with few limitations.
Adhesive capsulitis, more commonly known as frozen shoulder, is a type of shoulder impingement. It’s a condition in which your shoulder is unable to move at all or its movement is limited. Unless caused by a shoulder injury, the joint loses movement over time because of degradation, inflammation or damage to the ligaments. If you have an inflamed shoulder capsule, your bones can’t move freely in the joint, and it causes pain when you try to move it.
As your shoulder is the joint with the greatest range of motion, it’s prone to becoming unstable. Your shoulder capsule surrounds the three bones that make up your shoulder — the humerus, scapula and clavicle. The capsule uses synovial fluid to lubricate the ball-and-socket joint of your shoulder. When there’s less synovial fluid in the joint, adhesions form, causing your shoulder to become inflexible.
Causes and Risk Factors
It’s not known what exactly causes frozen shoulder. It appears most often because of a shoulder injury that’s more severe than a shoulder sprain. Other reasons for adhesive capsulitis include:
- Having a thyroid disease
- Suffering from diabetes
- Being menopausal, as women between the ages of 40 and 70 are more likely to experience it
- Suffering a stroke, which can limit your ability to use an arm
- Wearing a cast that keeps your arm in one position for an extended period
- Developing cervical disc disease
Frozen shoulder affects your daily life. It limits what you can do and causes shoulder pain that may keep you from enjoying your life. If you fear you have adhesive capsulitis, come into NYC pain center for diagnosis and treatment. The top pain clinic in Manhattan employs a multi-disciplinary approach to the regenerative treatment of your pain.
Diagnosing Frozen Shoulder
- X-rays
- Ultrasound
- Computed tomography (CT scan)
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Electromyogram (EMG)
Once your injury doctor determines that you have frozen shoulder, he can provide effective treatment. Ask how to treat a frozen shoulder, and you’ll find you have many options. The top shoulder pain specialists recommend the least invasive and most promising procedure for your particular condition.
Frozen Shoulder Treatment
Nationally recognized pain doctors focus treatment for a frozen shoulder on lessening your pain and increasing your range of motion. Your doctor, one of the top pain management doctors in Midtown, may recommend physical therapy as a first step, if your condition isn’t too severe. A physical therapist introduces you to several stretches and exercises that you can continue to do at home.
In a large number of cases, frozen shoulder improves with treatments that don’t stress your shoulder too much during rehabilitation. Frozen shoulder heals in time, but may take up to three years for a full recovery. Your specific treatment depends on your individual injury, but it may include one or more procedures, such as:
- You may only need over-the-counter medications for short-term relief. If you need a prescribed drug to help with pain relief, the course is carefully managed to prevent side effects. Medication can only mask the pain, but it may allow you to undergo physical therapy without discomfort.
- Shoulder manipulation. While you’re under anesthesia, your pain management doctor moves your shoulder to loosen the affected tissue and adhesions. This promotes healing and increases your range of motion.
- Steroid shoulder injections. Cortisone injections in your shoulder decrease the inflammation in the joint, which provides relief. It may even restore normal range of motion.
- When your shoulder doesn’t respond to normal treatment methods, your doctor may recommend hydrodilatation. Your shoulder is injected with sterile fluid until the joint expands, often freeing the joint from its limitations.
At the top pain clinic in New York, you can expect quality care, expert guidance and the treatment that’s right for you. Pain Management NYC provides all that while treating you with respect and dignity. Contact us today to feel whole again.
Boleslav Kosharskyy, MD, is a top-rated, best-in-class interventional pain management doctor. He is board-certified in Anesthesiology, Interventional Pain Medicine, and Palliative Care.
Dr. Kosharskyy is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Rehabilitation Medicine at Albert Einstein Medical College. He’s also the Associate Medical Director of Pain Medicine and Director of Anesthesia for the Joint Replacement Center at Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein Medical College.
He is an active member of the American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA), the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA), and the New York State Society of Anesthesiologists (NYSSA)