Frozen Shoulder

What Is It?

The medical name for frozen shoulder is adhesive capsulitis. It is simply a shoulder joint which does not have a full range of movement. When movement of the shoulder is attempted, it is usually accompanied by pain. In most instances only one shoulder is affected, but both shoulders are affected during one in five cases. The shoulder joint is made up of bones, ligaments and tendons which are all encased in a capsule of connective tissue. When this capsule is damaged, scare tissue forms and a thickening of the tissue occurs which leads to the restriction in movement.

Why Does It Happen?

The majority of frozen shoulder cases are the results of the immobilisation of a shoulder after injury or fracture. Cases do occur where a frozen shoulder has developed without the precursor of an injury. Doctors are not quite sure as to how or why this happens.

Frozen shoulders are more common in those who are aged over 60 years. Females are most likely to experience a frozen shoulder given they account for 70% of all cases. Interestingly, the Chinese term for frozen shoulder roughly translates to mean stressed females in her forties. This hints there may well be a psychogenic causative factor involved in the cases which are not the result of an initial injury.