Hi there.
I've been hearing about something called
"adhesive capsilitis" or frozen shoulder
syndrome. It's a crazy thing, and (based
on my cruising around the internet) not
many people are talking about it, but a
great many folks suffer from it.
I talked to a research doc/surgeon at ball
state memorial hospital in muncie,
indiana, and this is what he told me about
frozen shoulder:
it's a condition that usually occurs after
minimal trauma, and is very often linked
to some sort of emotional trauma that
happened within the past year. The
latest thinking on frozen shoulder
syndrome is that it acts as an auto-immune
disorder, which is where the body attacks
itself. The body attacks the shoulder
capsule, causing inflammation, and laying
down a huge amount of scar tissue in a
very short time. (his direct quote was,
"it occurs very rapidly--it's just
amazing.")
the patient looses almost all range of
motion, and is in a great deal of pain.
During the first 3-4 months, there's
almost nothing you can do about it--the
body wants to continue to lay down scar
tissue until it burns itself out of that
first phase. Another awful thing about
this syndrome is that it usually goes from
one shoulder right over to the other.
Traditional therapies have been amazingly
ineffectual. The "ultimate" answer is
surgery, which this surgeon describes as
"pretty brutal." essentially, the surgery
for frozen shoulder is to just rip the
muscles apart forcibly or cut the shoulder
capsule, leaving behind a severely
compromised shoulder system.
He told me about a newer therapy called
"astym" which is augmented, soft-tissue
manipulation combined with stretching and
strengthening. (check out astym.Com)
astym is designed to break down scar
tissue to encourage the body's natural
healing mechanism. It helps to get rid
of all that excessive scar tissue created
by the syndrome, and can ease a lot of
suffering.
Here's the totally weird thing about
frozen shoulder: after two years or so, it
resolves itself most of the time.
Apparently, the body will start to
gradually re-absorb the excess scar
tissue, and eventually the shoulder will
be released from its prison of scar.
Weird, but true.
Frankly, i'd rather not wait two years.
I'd go see a physical therapist and ask
about astym.
