Coping with FROZEN SHOULDER

The condition causes pain and stiffness, making the shoulder hard to move

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This occurs when the flexible tissue that surrounds the shoulder joint - known as the capsule - becomes inflamed and thickened, affecting one or both shoulders, although it's not fully understood why. It's also called adhesive capsulitis, or shoulder contracture.

Your risk increases if you have previous shoulder injuries or surgery, diabetes or thyroid problems, Dupuytren's contracture (hardening of the tissue in your palm), heart disease or stroke.

Typically, the shoulder pain becomes more severe over several months, then increasing stiffness occurs. In particularly severe cases, you can't move your shoulder at all. Symptoms vary from mild, with little difference to daily activities, to severe, with no shoulder movement, making it difficult to do everyday tasks, such as bathing, dressing, driving and sleeping comfortably, worsening gradually. The stages of frozen shoulder are:

1 The 'freezing' phase, lasting two to nine months. Your shoulder starts to ache and can become very painful, such as when reaching out for things, especially worse at night or lying on the affected side.