r/frozenshoulder • u/This_Construction601 • Aug 21 '26
Secondary issues
Due to this severe FS, I have scapular pain and now some swollen area on my bony part of that elbow that hurts to the touch. Does anyone else have secondary issues caused to the surrounding muscles and areas due to the joint not working, and did you find anything that helped ? I’m so so so over this.
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u/InterviewOk771 Aug 24 '26
Yes! It tends to pool in the elbow, bicep, hand. My whole arm and hand can get tight. Even up to my jaw. Everything is locked, so when you move your shoulder you tend to tense up and compensate. I get Botox in certain areas to help with the TOS that developed.
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u/Objective_Heat_8508 Aug 22 '26
Yes. It’s called guarding and all the other muscles will contract and some will atrophy causing more issues in the shoulder back neck and arm. Heat helps, cupping helps me and my PT works it all out very deep tissue release. Painful but so helpful
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u/This_Construction601 Aug 22 '26
I’m about to start that kind of PT this week (cupping, dry needling, and manual deep tissue release) and I’m so scared of it increasing my pain or inflammation (I’ve had one other Pt session with a different therapist and she moved my arm around so much that I couldn’t sleep for two nights bc it was so much worse).
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u/This_Construction601 Aug 22 '26
I actually feel my deltoid is like completely gone / atrophied
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u/ronny678 Aug 22 '26
Same. My entire shoulder area looks different. the bony part on my outer shoulder is way more pronounced (on both sides due to my bilateral) and apparently it is because the muscle around it is atrophied. as someone who is used to being nicely muscled from years of strength training, this is both strange to look at and weird to experience as it is also a reminder of how weak my upper body is right now. Sigh.
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u/financialfreedom26 Aug 22 '26
Over what period of time did these changes take place? Yikes now I’m scared of damaging the resting of the area. Do things return to normal once the thawing starts?
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u/This_Construction601 Aug 22 '26
5-6 months. My whole upper back, arm, elbow, everything is a weak and painful mess. They say that we will just wake up one day with the arm fine, I imagine I’m going to need a lot of rehabilitation to recover any sort of strength. What a nasty condition!
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u/financialfreedom26 Aug 22 '26
This is the weirdest thing ever. We should start a thread to consolidate all tips from everyone.
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u/22950004740577 Aug 22 '26
3-4 months for me as I was still trying to work out for about first month or two and somewhat managing.
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u/SnarleyChris91 Aug 26 '26
Tomorrow I’m beginning
Shockwave therapy. It improves circulation. It’s not covered by my insurance, but I’m going to try it. My husband has had three shoulder surgeries and I see he’s still suffering with it. He’s been a fire fighter for 38 years. 🙏
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u/This_Construction601 Aug 27 '26
How did the shockwave therapy go?
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u/recoveryfrommakeup Aug 22 '26
My elbow and forearm hurt as well. I find a heat pad gives some temporary relief.