Hi everyone-
I am a 27-year-old used-to-be very active person who has recently been diagnosed with frozen shoulder 
. I am a whitewater kayaker and climber ... so very much an overhead athlete. I injured my shoulder and partially tore my supraspinatus (in the rotator cuff) about a year and a half ago. Surgeons and doctors say it's not torn enough to have surgery, so I did months and months of PT. About a month ago, I tweaked my shoulder when I lost my balance and threw my arm up instinctually for balance. Since then, my shoulder has gotten more and more painful and more and more stiff until they finally diagnosed me with frozen shoulder. It seems to be still in the 'Freezing' stage as my ROM is getting worse. My doctors keep recommending that I get a cortisone shot, but I haven't really had any proof that those work very well for anything but relieving the pain for a little while. They also recommend taking something like Advil on a daily basis...but that just makes me sick. I am seeing my Network Care Provider again (Google Network Spinal Analysis if you don't know what that is) who has successfully helped me get over back and neck pain in the past. I'm also doing stretches and ROM exercises and planning on improving my diet and taking some natual anti-inflammatory pills...we'll see how it goes. Has anybody ever heard of someone in their 20s getting Frozen Shoulder? It'd be nice to hear from anyone who has had success overcoming this (any age!).
Good luck everyone,
~Shaina
You can not have a frozen shoulder at the tender age of 27.
My surgeon for my first frozen shoulder said he had a theory that people who had frozen shoulders carried diabetic genes whether they had dives or not. He thought our bodies threw down scar tissue to freeze an inflamed joint faster than other people. After three freezing episodes I would recommend Tramadol/Ultram or whatever they name it as there are many brand names. It is not an opiate. If you stay at a low dose you should be ok. If you can fid a deep tissue therapeutic massage person, they may be able to stay ahead of the adhesions. Keep up the pt and ROM. Mine usually last 8 to 9 months. You may want to rethink anything that causes body inflammation. My first shoulder was a twisting fall accident and I actually caused the tendon that sits in the slot on the top of your shoulder to jump the track. Accidentally got it back in the slot about 3 months later and it didn't hurt unless I moved my arm after that. It took 4 surgeons before someone realized what I had done with the fall.
It is very unusual for such a young person to get frozen shoulder, but not unheard of. I suspect the diagnosis is probably not exactly right. Your shoulder range of motion is greatly affected by pain somewhere. Something ([probably a muscle or tendon) in your shoulder is inflamed and probably rubbing and fraying against something else usually a bone. It will turn into frozen shoulder if you don't do something about it. Which is why most frozen shoulders are on older people, they had a injury (often minor) and did not do anything about it. Over time scar tissue and adhesions develop further preventing movement and the cylce continues....
KEEP IT MOVING!!! An alignment specialist is a really good start, because with this type of injury there is usually an underlying muscle imbalance with the joints of the neck, midback, ribs and shoulder all effected. Once that is fixed the shoulder is able to move freely and pain free. Get some deep, deep tissue work, which will hurt, around the neck, shoulders, shoulder blades. Often the subscapularis muscle, the supraspinatous muscle and the teres minor muscles are involved in this imbalance. They are deep inside and hard to get to. Also fish oils are a great natural inflammatory.
Hi Terry,
You describe three sessions of frozen shoulder but a person can never have two separate episodes in the same shoulder. Your surgeon may well be right about a genetic reason for an adhesive capsulitis but I wonder if it is true that it is the result of a diabetic gene, that is if such a gene exists. If that were true could it not be that any joint could develop a freezing arthritis. In reality only the shoulder suffers this condition, no hips knees or ankles. You describe a twisting fall as the cause of grief of your first shoulder troubles, that will certainly give you pain but not a frozen shoulder. The gene that causes frozen shoulders also causes other parts of the body soft tissue damage. Unfortunately it seems for some reason that in this day and age many shoulders are diagnosed badly.
Interesting. That's what I thought too. First my left which was operated. Then my right shoulder blade was frozen down about an inch too low to my back. Same symptoms basically. This time my rom is fine except my right shoulder blade was and still kind of is attached to my back again pulling on my neck again. My neck was frozen from moving left to right and up and down and the top of my shoulder was very painful and swollen. Constant muscle spasms in my shoulder blade area and neck just like the second frozen shoulder. But much deeper. Anyone else have this last problem with more neck involvement?
@terry74787 - That's an interesting theory by your doctor. I do know that my family has a history of diabetes; however, I have never been diagnosed with it... Thanks for your suggestions! I will keep them in mind...I have noticed that being very mindful of what causes inflammation really helps keep the pain tolerable, so thanks for that suggestion!
@angela39721 - I know it's very unusual that a person my age has a frozen shoulder, but my symptoms do seem to point to it. I have had other trauma to my left side, so I don't think it's impossible. I had a major surgery when I was 14 that left a large scar on my torso that starts under my left armpit and curls around to my back and follows my shoulder blade up. It might be a contributing factor to why my body is responding this way anyway... I will definitely keep my shoulder moving as much as possible...thanks for your advice!
Good luck everyone,
~Shaina
I have been doing something called myofacial release that I believe is part of a frozen body part... It seems to be helping...
Terry, What is your latest diagnosis and what does myofascial release do and how is it done?
No one has said anything about what my problem is...they just order more tests and send me to pt and prescribe drugs including muscle relaxers antidepressants and prednisone - none of which worked.
Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the link as it was to a specific clinic site and we do not publish these. You can Google the term myofascial release to get information on this.
Terry,
Surely the PT who has spent 4 or 5 years to get a masters degree or even a doctorate should be able to give you a diagnosis and the correct treatment. Mind you at Rushcliffe hospital the PTs can't touch patients, only give them advice on where to look up their condition on the net. See the recent Guardian newspaper. Stranger still the NHS wants to have Chinese medicine made available soon.
For any musculoskeletal condition it is all about the anatomy.
Shaina,
I'm currently 21, but just before my 19th birthday I started showing symptoms of frozen shoulder. Thinking I just slept on it wrong, I never went to the doctor. Fast forward 10 months later and many unfortunate personal losses later, the death of my grandmother convinced me to see a doctor. My family doctor ridiculed me for not seeing anyone and recommended I see a specialist. I was diagnosed about 6 months ago. Like you I kayaked and I worked manual labor as a farm hand. When I was speaking to my orthopedics shoulder specialist, he mentioned a second demographic that I fall under: Red Hair with family history of diabetes, arthritis, basically all the associated diseases. Considering I am SIGNIFICANTLY younger than most people with it, we didnt believe them until I went in for an MRI. You could clearly see the adhesion. My doctor admitted I was the youngest patient hes ever had with frozen shoulder, and recomended I see a physical therapist. The therapist didn't believe the diagnosis, because of age, and had several conversations with the doctor to confirm the diagnosis. While in therapy, many other elderly people came in with frozen shoulder, they were interesting to talk to. Like you I never got cortisone because of a very bad misdiagnosed injury my dad had in his shoulder. I'd rather feel the pain, know it's there, and know when it's getting better or worse. I was wondering how your shoulder is now and if you fall under that "new" demographic.
Lindsay
Inaccurate! Frozen Shoulder Or (AC) is more common in the elderly or diabetics. but you most certainly can have it at a young age. I was 28 when mine was diagnosed. Working in the medical field I knew what it was immediately and received treatment quickly. Usually with younger people there is an underlying cause like RA. MRI with contrast between the joints confirmed capsular adhesions. Treated with awesome deep steroid injections and lots of PT. Lost no range and recovered fairly quick compared to most. Waiting is the enemy!
No proof steroids work for an inflammatory disease? Hit the books because steroids and NSAIDS are all
We have, and you want a steroid if you indeed have a frozen shoulder. It decreased my pain level by about 75% in 3 days. Much better option than suffering, taking addictive pain medications, and dragging out the recovery process for months. Do some research on what are “adhesions” and why they cause a frozen shoulder. We
there is 100% a gene for diabetes this is why many doctors ask if anyone in your family has a history of it.
Tramadol is an opiate hence the suffix- ol at the end of its name. maybe you meant you say it is an opiate
there is no such a thing as your too young for particular disease to strike most often, you may find you do not fit into a category when it comes to certain diseases, but it's not to say you dont have it because your 27. its best to rely on info from medical professionals because I have read some of the things written and some comments are wildly incorrect I have a science degree and what I do know is that when statistics are correlated there are always outliers
I'd suggest you get the cortisol injection aswell, interestingly women of asian decent are more prone to frozen shoulder and iv known a friend who has had the injection and it has vastly helped
it's not strange at all, I actually wrote a paper of the efficacy of traditional medicines in western medicine, the WHO a few years ago wrote a proposal for governments to recognise traditonal/alternative medicines inconjuction with modern medicine. theres are hundreds of medications on the shelf that are a result of exploration into the bio active fractions of "traditional" plants and herbs eg quinine which was long used in china and has become an essential treatment in combination therapy in malaria. opiates too come from traditional medicine as well as digoxin used in heart meds if I'm not mistaken.
its shocking the amount of people on here that are giving out such inaccurate info, I said the very same thing that theres is no such a thing as being too young to have frozen shoulder, I suggested the cortisol I injections aswell, and I have science background glad to hear someone giving great advice and info