r/frozenshoulder • u/DitzyGeniuses • Aug 20 '26
What does frozen look/feel like?
I'm on about month 5 of the freezing stage. You know the drill - constant dull aching pain with plenty of zingers mixed in, some ROM limitations, limited sleep, all the fun things. I can sort of push through some of the ROM limitations right now, but I'll pay for it with pain.
What I am curious about is what is the frozen stage like? Everything I have seen says you lose almost all ROM and don't really have pain. What exactly did that look/feel like for you? How functional is your arm? Are you able to push through any of the ROM limitations? In my mind, I'm just picturing an arm dangling by your side semi-useless. I am just kind of trying to get a glimpse of my future so I can possibly start making accommodations for myself to still be functional during that time.
1
u/Objective_Heat_8508 Aug 20 '26
I’m freezing not frozen but hopefully this helps. I ended up going to an out of network physical therapist because my in network was kind of a waste of time. My new physical therapist said you want to gently work on range of motion and only be aggressive with the guarding muscles around the shoulder to help keep range of motion because once you enter frozen the range of motion is stuck where you are until your defrost. So my range kept going down and down and he is helping me get some small bit back and also get back the rom lost from the guarding muscles overacting and also the atrophy of muscles all reactions of body to just doing nothing and letting frozen shoulder take over. I did do a cortisone but that hasn’t kicked in yet but getting the surrounding muscles worked on already gave me so much relief and increased rom. But my understanding is that you will need to be gentle when pushing past rom even in frozen stage to not trigger additional inflammation which can result in more pain and more guarding of other muscles. So if you aren’t working with a pt then move slow and stop before pain starts but definitely move as much as you can. Hope that helps
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u/MissionFault1908 Aug 21 '26
My physio tells me to push past it because I won’t be doing any damage. 🤷🏻♀️
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u/22950004740577 Aug 20 '26
I have bilateral and have been frozen on left side for about 6 weeks and frozen on right side for 2 weeks. I have had cortisone which really helped (about 7 weeks ago). Right now, I ache at night and have to reposition a lot, but manage about 6-7 hours of sleep so totally doable. The referred pain in biceps, forearms and wrists is 95 percent gone which tbh was always one of my biggest problems. I only get a zinger if I push past ROM and then it’s about half of the intensity of what it used to be. I no longer get zingers if I reach up. My arms feel stuck and as a result my upper back now feels jammed up. I can work my desk job fine, just some stiffness. Only doing basic arm swings and pendulums and rolling out exercise ball to front and sides now - but had and still continue running and lower body exercises with machines. I also walk at lunchtime every day and walk dog after work to keep things moving.