It can be a strange thing to suddenly have shoulder pain without injury or reason for the pain. This pain will stop you from moving your arms, which causes the shoulders to become stiff and to lose a range of motion. You may start asking others for help, reaching things that are above your head, and even reaching for things directly in front of you. Brushing your teeth and dressing becomes a daily issue. In time,  the arm will have a loss of rotation, and everyday activities such as reaching over the head or even raising the arm above a certain point become impossible. Frozen shoulder usually affects only one arm, though some in some cases, the other arm developed frozen shoulder at another point in time.

It is not clearly understood what is the underlying cause of frozen shoulder. However, we do understand the progression of the condition. Frozen shoulder starts with an inflammation of the joint capsule of the shoulder joint. This shoulder joint holds the bones of the shoulder to each other with ligaments. The inflammation of the ligaments of the joint capsule causes the shoulder pain and over time, prevents a range of motion in the shoulder joint. The shoulder becomes “frozen” and unable to move.

• shoulder injury or surgery
• often in people 40 – 70 years old
• more often in postmenopausal women
• often in people with chronic diseases
• cervical disk (neck) subluxations or disease
• hyperthyroidism
• diabetes
• open heart surgery

Your chiropractor will examine the shoulder and your spine and may order x-rays and/or MRIs to see if arthritis or other issues are a factor. If the diagnosis is frozen shoulder, daily intense physical therapy.

Is Adhesive Capsulitis Correction Painful?

Even though most chiropractic adjustments are not typically painful. Some of the frozen shoulder adjustments may be painful.  However, adjustments for frozen shoulder will give the greatest amount of correction in the first visit. A short and sharp increase in pain may be felt directly after the adjustment, but the pain will calm down in a few minutes. After the pain subsides, the chiropractor will again test the range of motion, which can improve as much as 50% or more after the first visit with certain chiropractors. Typically, the pain will be less severe than before the adjustment. The chiropractor will then recommended some exercises.

If the amount of pain that you will need to endure for a correction is a big concern for you, then consider trying a chiropractor who will use an instrument adjusting technique or a low mass light adjusting technique. Instrument adjusting in most cases will not be as painful, but the results may take longer.

Extremity Adjusting Chiropractor Referral

There are many different chiropractic techniques which all have their own merits. In some cases, your chiropractor may refer you to another chiropractor practicing a different technique if he or she feels that it may be beneficial. Maybe you’ve always had great results from your current chiropractor but they do not do any extremity adjusting.  In that case, asking for a referral to another chiropractor who does extremity adjust might be something to consider. Often even one successful shoulder adjustment will remover the primary adhesion and you can then return to your original chiropractor.