Shoulder pain or a frozen shoulder can be very uncomfortable and can interfere with your sleep and daily activities. It can start as a simple shoulder or rotator cuff ache and transform into acute and chronic pain.
Frozen shoulders generally affect people between the age of 40 and 60. It can happen to anyone regardless of gender, but typically women are more prone to it than men. Medication can play a vital part in recovery, but to support this, or if the medicines don’t work, deep tissue massage can be very effective.
What is a frozen shoulder?
This is a severe condition where your shoulder, arm and hand movement becomes limited due to severe pain and stiffness. The inflammation surrounding the tissues and joints in the shoulder area can also lead to scarring. This condition can get worse with time, and simple shoulder pain can become a Frozen Shoulder if you do not seek medical advice or appropriate therapy.
What are the causes of a frozen shoulder?
This medical condition is all about connective tissues around bones and joints; it happens when the tendons become inflamed, and the capsules thicken and restrict movement. Hence, there are no definitive causes of this condition, but some common indicators are:
- Age and Gender – People aged 40 and above are more likely to fall for this condition, especially women.
- Cuff Injury – The rotator cuffs are muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint. They keep the head of the upper bone attached to the shoulder’s shallow socket. Rotator cuff injuries are most common if you do heavy lifting work or if you play a lot of sport.
- Stroke – a stroke weakens the muscles in your arms and shoulders so ligaments become prone to injuries.
- Diabetes – People who have diabetes can develop shoulder pain because the sugar levels can spike at any time. These spikes affect collagen levels, damaging connective tissues.
- Thyroid – research shows that people with thyroid problems are more than three times likely to suffer from frozen shoulder.
- Parkinson’s Disease – a shoulder disorder can be the first sign of Parkinson’s. As this is a condition which causes long-term pain and physical disability, it is always better to have minor aches and pains checked out.
- Sports – Shoulder pain is very prevalent among people who play a lot of sport.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Generally, shoulder pain tends to go away on his own, although it might take up to a year. Doctors may prescribe steroids and other medicines that can control inflammation. If you are not a massive fan of this, or to supplement your recovery, massage is proven to be effective in managing shoulder pain.
What kind of massage is particularly helpful?
Many trigger points can limit the motion of the shoulder. To regain mobility, you need to go through a series of massages under the guidance of a professional.
Of our treatments we particularly recommend Sports/Deep Tissue Massage, with the addition of Cupping after 5 to 6 sessions. Cupping helps in decompressing and mobilising the adhesions and by increasing the blood flow in the area to speed up healing.
And remember that prevention is better than cure, so let us help you choose the right therapy to avoid future complications.