Late last spring as I was using my mattock to put in new flower beds around our home, I noticed that my shoulder began "catching". As time progressed throughout the summer, my motion started becoming limited and I was in varying degrees of pain. By August, the pain was severe and my range of motion extremely small. So my wonderful doctor husband took the initiative and got me in for an MRI which showed I had 2 tears in my rotator cuff and a frozen shoulder, also known as adhesive capsulitis. On to the orthopedic doctor I went. I have a fantastic orthopedist--very conservative and easy going, making my visit as peaceful and pleasant as possible with such intense pain. He had me try to lift my arm at various angles. I say try because it was a pitiful attempt. I left the office after a cortisone shot in my shoulder and a prescription for 6 weeks of physical therapy.
I had never had physical therapy so I did not know what to expect. The clinic where I go has the best therapists there are, at least in my opinion. They are all friendly, have great compassion, are very knowledgable, and continue researching ways to best take care of their patients. My initial assessment revealed that I had lost most of my mobility and motion. For those of you who have a protractor around the house, check this out. I could only lift my arm 19 degrees on one of my measurements to the side! Lifting my arm straight in front of me wasn't much better, and forget my trying to get my arm behind my back at all. It wasn't going to happen.
Frozen shoulder has 3 main stages: the freezing, the frozen, and the thawing. I was in the freezing stage from about May through at least part, if not all, of September and into early October. It's hard to remember as all my days ran together. For me, it meant excruciating pain whether I was still or moving. I have never felt pain so severe; for me it was worse than broken bones or childbirth. The closest thing it came to was when I had my big toenail kicked off and every morning when I got up the blood rushed to the wound with intense prickling pain. Well, this was worse because there are many nerves in the shoulder area. In addition to the pain, I suffered many muscle cramps in my arm. My therapists were great at this stage-they pushed me, but respected the fact that I had great pain and did not overdo it.
I went back to my orthopedist in September and I thought I had made decent progress. I was in a little less pain, and could lift my arm slightly higher. I still couldn't do much other than ice my shoulder, but I felt I was getting better. I think at that point, he was skeptical. He said I could continue therapy for 6 more weeks, but if things weren't significantly improved, he might have to help me--aka surgery for the frozen shoulder. As far as the rotator cuff tears, I was not to lift over 5 pounds, which wasn't a problem as I couldn't even lift a coffee cup at that time. He felt my tears were relatively small and though they could take a year or two or three to be completely healed, he felt that was a better option than surgery.
Back to my therapists I went. My therapy became more aggressive and more uncomfortable, but thankfully not more than I could bear. They gave me exercises to do at home, which I did faithfully. In fact, a little too faithfully. I have been one to think that if a little does a little good then much will do much good. Wrong! In this case, I was working against myself and hindering my progress because my muscles were overdoing it. When my therapists learned I was overdoing it, they kindly explained I was making things worse as far as progress than if I backed off and only exercised and stretched 2-3 times per day instead of my 4-6 times. I so wanted to be better and NOT have surgery. So I trusted my therapists and backed off and I started making better progress. Then I hit a plateau with only a couple more weeks before I went to my orthopedic doctor. So I prayed and asked for prayer.
And... all of a sudden one day I had breakthrough! My motion increased, I had multiple adhesions break, and I was able to add more exercises which I am now doing. I went back to my doctor this week and he gave me a big smile and the news I had so wanted--I don't need surgery! I do need at least 7-8 more weeks of therapy and then we reassess. I am thrilled to say the least!
For those of you who may be experiencing frozen shoulder and a rotator cuff tear, I encourage you to check it out sooner than later. I waited much longer than I should have, but I kept thinking it would get better. Find a knowledgable and conservative doctor--it is amazing what therapy, doing one's exercises, and a good attitude, along with prayer can accomplish. I am thankful to not have to have surgery, but sometimes it is necessary. Since I haven't gone through that experience my only advice is to pray, get a peace about it, and find a great orthopedist as I have and trust him or her.
In my next post, I will continue with the practical aspects of living with a frozen shoulder and rotator cuff tears.
Until then, I am,
Simply Filled with Grace
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