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(08) 6110 0570admin@pdchealthhub.com.auFrozen shoulder is pain and then stiffness in one shoulder, caused by the capsule around the joint becoming inflamed and thickened. Without treatment the whole course can take one to three years.
Frozen shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) is a condition where the capsule that wraps the shoulder joint becomes inflamed and thickened, so the shoulder hurts and then stops moving.1 Pain usually comes first, present even at rest and worse with movement, and sleep is one of the earliest things to go. Stiffness follows, pain settles, and movement slowly returns. Without treatment the full course can take one to three years, and that varies between people.1 Risk is higher after 40, in women, and after a shoulder injury or upper body surgery that kept the arm still.1 Shoulder pain can also come from the heart, so the urgent list below matters.2
Frozen shoulder is more common in people living with diabetes, and Diabetes Australia lists it among the lesser known complications of diabetes.1,3,4,6 Your GP makes the diagnosis from your history and how the shoulder moves, and imaging such as X-ray is usually not needed.1 PDC physiotherapists work with the stage you are in, from settling pain and sleep positions early on to hands on techniques and graded movement later.1 Corticosteroid injection, hydrodilatation and surgery are decisions your GP or specialist makes with you.1 A shoulder that is hot, swollen and very painful can be a joint infection, which Queensland Health treats as an emergency department referral.5
PHOTO NEEDED · Add a Hero Image to this condition in the CMS: a PDC clinician with a client, natural light, no identifiable health information on screen
Symptoms are a guide, not a diagnosis. Your GP confirms the diagnosis; our team helps you manage it day to day.
The teams and services that most often support people with this condition. They work from one shared plan, and one GP referral reaches all of them.
This page follows Australian guidance, mainly healthdirect Australia on frozen shoulder and shoulder pain, Queensland Health's Clinical Prioritisation Criteria for shoulder pain, and Diabetes Australia on the musculoskeletal complications of diabetes. A systematic review published in BMJ Open and United Kingdom NHS guidance are named where they are used.
Longer than most people expect. Without treatment the whole course can run one to three years, moving through a painful stage, a stiff stage and a slow easing stage, and the timing varies between people. Treatment can relieve symptoms and help you keep using the arm, but it cannot switch the condition off, and symptoms can persist for a long time even with treatment.
The link is well described but not fully explained. A systematic review in BMJ Open found people living with diabetes are more likely to develop frozen shoulder, and Diabetes Australia lists it alongside trigger finger, Dupuytren's contracture and stiff hand syndrome. United Kingdom NHS guidance says the reason is unclear and that keeping up your regular diabetes check-ups matters, which is our advice too.
It should not. healthdirect's advice is that these treatments should not increase your level of pain, and that you should tell your doctor or physiotherapist if they do, so the treatment can be adjusted. In the painful early stage the focus is pain relief, positioning and gentle movement. Firmer stretching, mobility work and hands on techniques are more useful once the shoulder reaches the stiff and easing stages.
That is a decision for your GP or specialist, not for a physiotherapist. healthdirect describes corticosteroid injections into the shoulder joint as safe and effective, especially early in the condition, and hydrodilatation as injecting sterile saline to stretch the joint capsule. Surgery to release the capsule is usually only considered after six to twelve months of non surgical pain management. PDC physiotherapists work alongside any of these and write back to your GP.
Usually not. Frozen shoulder is diagnosed from your history and from how the shoulder moves, and imaging such as X-ray is generally not needed. If something does not add up, your PDC physiotherapist can refer you directly for imaging rather than sending you back to the GP for a form.
Tell us what is going on and we will point you to the right discipline, or to more than one. Most people start with a single appointment and leave with a plan the rest of the team can see.
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