Establishing the correct diagnosis of your shoulder pain is critical for the optimal plan of care.  Common shoulder disorders include rotator cuff pathology, sub-acromial impingement, adhesive capsulitis, and bicipital tendonitis. In this blog, we will be discussing the signs of a Frozen shoulder, also known as  Adhesive capsulitis.

Risk factors

A “frozen shoulder”  is a common shoulder injury, especially for those over the age of 50. Additional risk factors include diabetes, prior history of a frozen shoulder, and immobilization of your arm.

3 classic signs of a frozen shoulder

Whenever I see a client in my physical therapy clinic suffering from shoulder pain, I put them through a series of tests to determine the cause of their discomfort.  With a frozen shoulder, I usually see 3 common symptoms:

  1. Both active and passive range of motion of the shoulder is equal
  2. Manual muscle testing is usually not painful and strong
  3. There is usually a >50% of External Rotation of the involved shoulder as compared to the non-injured one.

What to do next

Your 3-step plan for improving your health, loving your life again, and taking charge of your health! 

  1. Schedule your next Physical Therapy visit with Bellingham’s premier Manual Therapy clinic, Integrative Physical Therapy today!
  2. Join our Facebook group for healthy aging tips, motivation, and a great online community 
  3. Are you over 50 and ready to Love Your Life Again? Let’s do this | Live Well 50 

 

Any questions? We have answers!

 

Cheers,

Ed Deboo, PT

Integrative Physical Therapy,

Bellingham, WA