Yesterday, your shoulder was fine, but today, it delivers a painful surprise: it’s frozen! It hurts and it’s a bit stiff. Did you sleep on it wrong? Grab something overhead? Sometimes it just happens suddenly and BAM! Your shoulder is searing with pain, and you can’t lift your arm or reach across your body. At other times, it sneaks up on you, starting as just a minor soreness or stiffness that you brush off. Left untreated, your shoulder joint eventually seizes up and refuses to budge.
Frozen shoulder is also known as adhesive capsulitis. This stealthy condition can appear unexpectedly without causing injury and take years to progress through its stages until it’s healed.[1] It happens when the capsule around your shoulder joint thickens and tightens, like it’s shrinking up. This inflammation severely limits movement and causes pain, making everyday tasks feel impossible.
What Caused My Shoulder to Freeze?
Doctors aren’t entirely sure what causes frozen shoulder, but it often happens after an injury, surgery, or a long period of shoulder immobility, such as being in a sling.[2] Repetitive strain or overuse injuries are often thought to be a contributing factor, as well, due to inflammation of the soft tissues within the joint.
Age may be a significant factor. It’s more common in people between the ages of 40 and 60, especially in women.[1] Diabetes significantly increases the risk, and so do certain health conditions like stroke, thyroid disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and heart disease.[2]
Regardless of the cause of your frozen shoulder, leaving it untreated can lead to serious long-term complications.
Don’t Wait to Treat Your Frozen Shoulder
If you’re experiencing shoulder pain and stiffness, it’s essential not to dismiss it. Timely diagnosis and treatment of frozen shoulder are crucial to avoid bigger problems down the road. Here’s why:
- Joint deterioration: Ongoing inflammation and lack of shoulder movement can eventually lead to joint deterioration. A frozen shoulder causes the connective tissue surrounding the shoulder joint to thicken and tighten, restricting movement and potentially causing lasting damage if left untreated.[1]
- Muscle atrophy: When your arm and shoulder aren’t used regularly due to pain and stiffness, the surrounding muscles can weaken and shrink—a condition called muscle atrophy.[3] The Cleveland Clinic notes that disuse atrophy can happen quickly when a limb isn’t moved often enough.
- Decreased activity levels: Pain often leads to a less active lifestyle, which can increase your risk for other health problems like heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Staying active is essential for your overall health; untreated frozen shoulder can make it difficult.
- Chronic inflammation: Long-term inflammation doesn’t just affect your shoulder. It can also damage healthy cells and tissues throughout the body, contributing to the development of other inflammatory conditions.[4] Chronic inflammation is associated with a range of serious health issues.
- Injury to other body parts: When one area hurts, your body naturally compensates by adjusting your movement, which can lead to new injuries in your neck, back, or even your unaffected shoulder. The AAOS states that overcompensation injuries are common in conditions that restrict normal movement.
- Mental health effects: Living with ongoing pain and limited mobility can be stressful and emotionally draining. Anxiety, frustration, and even depression are common among people struggling with chronic musculoskeletal conditions like frozen shoulder.[5]
- Poor posture: Stiffness and shoulder immobility can lead to poor posture or exacerbate existing posture problems. Bad posture can, in turn, exacerbate shoulder problems, creating a vicious cycle.[6]
When to See a Doctor for Shoulder Pain or Stiffness
If you’ve been dealing with shoulder pain, stiffness, or trouble moving your arm, don’t wait it out. Make an appointment with your healthcare provider. After a complete evaluation—often including an X-ray or MRI scan—they can provide an accurate diagnosis and create a treatment plan for you.
Frozen shoulder symptoms can sometimes mimic other common conditions, such as a rotator cuff injury or arthritis, so it is vital to get checked out to rule out other causes.
Early diagnosis and treatment not only help relieve your pain sooner but can also prevent long-term complications and help you get back to your normal activities faster.
Pain Management Helps Your Frozen Shoulder Thaw Out
Pain management offers real solutions if you’ve been struggling to keep your frozen shoulder moving. Your pain specialist will design a comprehensive treatment plan to help your shoulder heal and maintain its function.
Tackle frozen shoulder pain and stiffness with a multifaceted approach, including corticosteroid injections, nerve blocks (like stellate ganglion blocks), and ultrasound-guided injections for targeted relief. Regenerative medicine treatments, such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, can also accelerate healing and alleviate painful, movement-limiting inflammation. When your pain is under control, it’s much easier—and more comfortable—to fully participate in physical therapy and continue with essential at-home exercises, both of which are crucial for your recovery.
Keeping your arm and shoulder as mobile as possible (even if it’s just small movements at first) is vital to preventing further stiffness. Pain management, physical therapy and smart at-home care form a powerful plan to take your shoulder from frozen to thawed.
Don’t let your frozen shoulder ice over your life! If you’re ready to work toward less pain and better function, consult a pain management specialist today and set your treatment plan to defrost!
Resources:
Frozen shoulder – Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic [Internet]. Published August 1, 2020. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frozen-shoulder/symptoms-causes/syc-20372684
What Is Frozen Shoulder? Cleveland Clinic [Internet]. Published January 30, 2024. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/frozen-shoulder-adhesive-capsulitis
Frozen Shoulder: How To Avoid this Middle-Age Malady. Orlando Health [Internet]. Published 2022. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://www.orlandohealth.com/content-hub/frozen-shoulder-how-to-avoid-this-middle-age-malady
Frozen Shoulder. Johns Hopkins Medicine [Internet]. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/frozen-shoulder
Ebrahimzadeh MH, Moradi A, Bidgoli HF, Zarei B. The Relationship between Depression or Anxiety Symptoms and Objective and Subjective Symptoms of Patients with Frozen Shoulder. Int J Prev Med [Internet]. 2019;10:38. Published 2019 Mar 15. doi:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_212_17. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6425770/
Poor posture can cause shoulder pain. Mayo Clinic Health System [Internet]. Accessed April 25, 2025. Available from: https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/poor-posture-can-cause-shoulder-pain
