Is my Shoulder “Frozed Up”? How to Treat a Frozen Shoulder

Podcast Transcript

Music (Intro).

Speaker 2: 0:08
Hello and welcome to the Bone and Joint Playbook with Dr. John Urse. Tips for pain-free aging. Dr. John Urse is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon with over 35 years’ experience in the Dayton, Ohio area. He is also a clinical fellowship trained surgeon in total joint replacement from Harvard. Today’s title is “My shoulder is Frozed Up”.
What is frozen shoulder, and how do I treat it? This episode is brought to you by:

Speaker 3: 0:37
Ted’s Authentic Greek Salad Dressing and Marinade… It’s healthy, dairy free, gluten-free, sugar free, low sodium and delicious. You can find Ted’s in Dayton, Ohio at Dorothy Lane Markets, Health Foods Unlimited, and Dots Markets. That’s Ted’s authentic Greek Dressing and Marinade. Thanks, Ted.

Speaker 4: 0:53
All right. We are back with the Bone and Joint Playbook with Dr. John Urse. Hello, Dr. Urse.

Speaker 5: 0:59
Hi, Terry. How are you?

Speaker 4: 1:00
I’m fine. It’s been a while since we’ve been down here. I know you’ve been busy.

Speaker 5: 1:03
I have.

Speaker 4: 1:04
And what are we talking about today?

Speaker 5: 1:06
Well, we’re talking about a topic called frozen shoulder, but our title today is “My Shoulder is Frozed Up.”

Speaker 4: 1:14
Okay, your shoulder is frozed up . So, this is different than a cold shoulder, correct?

Speaker 5: 1:20
Well, my patients sometimes say their shoulder feels frozed up, and what they’re saying is that the shoulder…

Speaker 4: 1:26
You didn’t get my joke.

Speaker 5: 1:27
I must have missed it.

Speaker 4: 1:28
I said, this is different than a cold shoulder. Somebody gives you the cold

Speaker 5: 1:32
Shoulder. Oh yeah. That kind of cold shoulder. Yeah, you’re,

Speaker 4: 1:33
You’re okay. Go ahead. Keep going.

Speaker 5: 1:35
Okay, now you got me. So, when people start losing movement in their arm or having pain when they sleep or just a dull ache in the arm, a lot of them dismiss it initially and then they gradually find they can’t reach the back of their hair or they can’t get their belt on, or do some of the activities of daily living that are affected by the restriction of movement. A frozen shoulder in the simplest terms is just a shrinkage of the sack or the lining around the shoulder joint so that we know the shoulder’s a ball and socket joint, but it’s a very shallow joint, much like a basketball on a dinner plate. It’s not a deep socket like a hip. The ability of that shoulder to move freely lets it move in nine different directions. This allows us to reach by our back over our head, we can put a dish away on a shelf, or we can throw a baseball or climb a tree, right? When some of those movements get restricted, the lining called the capsule gets either inflamed or thickened, and it starts to become inelastic and it doesn’t stretch.
The phases of getting a stiff or frozen shoulder are as follows:
• The shoulder becomes more inflamed initially, and painful, but not too limited in movement.
• A stiffening phase… like freezing, and the phrase ‘frozen shoulder’ probably comes from that.
• A thawing phase …where it kind of starts to stretch out some, and then over time it mostly goes away over of course of two to three years. Patients eventually get most of their movement back.
It’ll be some people that have some residual loss of movement at the extremes of arm motion. Some may have a little bit of pain or discomfort, no matter what anybody does. I tell people this capsule, or sac around the shoulder is what holds the shoulder in place. It keeps it from what’s called popping- out or dislocating. The rotator cuff, which are a group of muscles in the front, top, and back of the shoulder, help rotate and lift the arm. They’re right next to this capsular lining of the shoulder. When certain disease processes occur, that capsule or lining becomes thickened and the folds kind of matte to each other. Akin to a leather purse left out in the rain. It becomes inelastic, or stiff and all of a sudden now you’re nice stretched out leather purse won’t hold as many things in your anymore.
We actually can diagnose this condition by noting decreased filling of fluid in your shoulder with a dye test called an arthrogram. A normal shoulder holds say, 20 to 30 ccs. That’d be pretty good-sized fountain drink for most people. In a frozen shoulder, it only holds five ccs or so, which is very limited because of some of the inflammation in the joint.

Speaker 4: 4:36
So how common is this? I mean, is this something that everybody suffers from or is this a rare thing that only happens to certain kind of people?

Speaker 5: 4:44
Well, it’s definitely in between those two things. it’s more common in women. It’s probably five times more common in women. It’s more common in people that are sedentary that don’t use their arms, maybe a person at a desk job. Right? It’s more common in your non-dominant arm because think about using your dominant arm to do most things, like put a dish on a shelf or throw a baseball or do mini activities with a tennis racket or whatever. So, the sedentary lifestyles have a higher likelihood of getting a frozen shoulder. And also, it’s more common in certain age groups. So, between about 40 and 60, women, the ideal profile, about 30, 30% of these people may have diabetes. Okay? And it may not matter whether it’s insulin dependent or someone who takes pills or, diet control for their diabetes. We think that there are some basic science issues that are based on, what are called scar tissue or inflammatory molecules that are activated in this condition. The basic science means that the research of the genes and some of the things that are called characteristics to give you brown or blue eyes, DNA, or data points, may be a factor in this disease process.

Speaker 4: 6:01
Alright, you think it could?

Speaker 5: 6:02
Be? Well, it’s not. There is a predilection to people that are from the British Isles that are born there or their descendants. Their parents are grandparents that are from there, but that’s certainly not the only thing. we’ve also noticed some people when they have a scar on their arm or leg and they form a thick, raised, scar – it’s called a keloid. That’s an external scar that everybody sees that isn’t nice smooth line. And we try to think, well, maybe those people are a scar former or they form more reactive, what’s called connective tissue problems. Well think of this as being an internal scar in the shoulder, like a cobweb or a, a thing that limits the movement of the, the joint. Some people after a knee surgery get a stiff knee and they have to have what’s called a manipulation to move it. They have a knee replacement and all of a sudden it doesn’t move as much as they want after a certain time. If you can’t bend your knee or straighten it, your doctor might actually do what’s called a knee manipulation. you’ve heard of people with abdominal surgery. They have their belly open for a, a bowel surgery or a gallbladder and they form cobwebs or adhesions, and those cobwebs sometimes strangle the bowel and you get a bowel obstruction. So that’s another type of scar tissue that you really don’t see. And I tell people, scar tissue is like a cobweb in Aunt Tilly’s attic. You know, you haven’t been upstairs in three years. It’s nothing wrong with the room, but it’s just got these cobwebs because there’s just a bunch of stuff up there that hasn’t been cleared away. And if you’re in a sling, let’s say you’ve broken your collarbone, you’re riding your bike, I’m trying to stay in shape, you’ve fallen break it and your doctor puts you in a sling and he goes, gosh, that’s going to take six weeks to heal. Wear this sling. Well, if you wear a sling on your arm for six weeks and don’t move your shoulder, you can get a frozen shoulder because you’re not moving it. So, at the very least, you should use your other arm and lift that arm and keep the shoulder joint moving. That’s why when we do rotator cuff surgery or fix your muscle that lifts the arm, your therapist will help you keep the shoulder from freezing up without harming the rotator cuff repair. And these are all different factors for people who get a frozen shoulder.

Speaker 4: 8:11
Now, how do I know I have a frozen shoulder?

Speaker 5: 8:13
Well, you’ll probably start with a dull ache or some trouble laying on your shoulder at night and you may start losing some movement. And

Speaker 4: 8:20
That’s phase one. You would say, well

Speaker 5: 8:22
Phase one, remember, is not a loss of movement phase as much as it is a dull ache. And you might be on the outside, at the top of your arm, at the outside of your shoulder and you know it’s a vague complaint. That’s actually one of the best times to go see your healthcare provider because they should do a couple things. They should examine you and they should ask you other questions. Do you have any thyroid issues, diabetes – issues we talked about.

Speaker 4: 8:45
Is this my Family Practice Doctor I should go to?

Speaker 5: 8:49
It can be your family doctor, your chiropractor, your physician assistant. Again, we have what are called healthcare extenders. Now there’s so many people that need so much care, there aren’t enough doctors to go around in every situation. The military uses Physician Assistants, Nurse Practioners, and a lot of different positions are called healthcare extenders who can see you on the front line. Your therapist will usually then get involved with helping you move the arm. They’ll find out if a prescription for therapy is indicated. They might give you a trial of a, medication for inflammation. We talked about some of the steroids. Cortisone, sometimes a shot in the shoulder, either in the bursa on the top or a shot in the joint. Remember this is inside the shoulder, right? So, a shot in the in the actual shoulder joint called the glen of humeral joint is probably at the best place to put this, but it’s not an easy place for most people to put a shot. So, at that point, if you’ve seen your healthcare provider, you know, you’ve got some movement, but you still have pain, then you want to make sure you’ve gotten an x-ray. You want to make sure you don’t have some arthritis condition. Some other thing like a rotator cuff tear or some other condition. Now, some people who tear their rotator cuff, we talked about that they can’t lift their arm, right? And they have weakness with the pain. This, this condition, like if I have a rotator cuff tear that’s completely torn. We talked about a rotator cuff is like a rope that lifts an awning and that awning is your arm. So, you know, you have a rope that pulls the arm in, that pulls the arm out, that takes the arm away from the body. Those all four rotator cuff muscles can have injuries over time from activities we do or aging and wear and tear as we get older. If you have an arm that you can’t lift, if I’m examining you, I can take your arm and move it all the way over your head. You might not be able to do it. But if I can do it though, I know the arm isn’t frozen. Okay? So, I distinguish that in the office by my exam by saying, this isn’t a frozen shoulder, it’s a maybe a rotator cuff tear. I might have to do an ultrasound or an MRI to see the muscle that’s torn. The x-ray won’t show me that all the time, but an x-ray will tell you if you have arthritis, do you have a calcium deposit? Do you have other conditions that might be affecting it? So that’s why once you notice that hey, you’re having your sleep interrupted, you can’t put a dish on a shelf, you’re, you’re having trouble laying on that side at night. and you have activities mostly above a right angle, you know, like getting to your hair and, you know, health, healthcare activities that involve daily living, chores. I think you then get your initial exam from your healthcare provider and let them start with simple things. Because most things get better with without a lot of you know things.

Speaker 4: 11:34
So what they’re saying you, you told me and I liked it a lot. What was that? You said you try to entertain patients?

Speaker 5: 11:39
Well, it’s, it’s the role of the physician or the healthcare provider to sufficiently entertain the patient long enough to allow nature to affect a cure. So, a lot of these things will get better on their own. Probably 90% of people who have a frozen shoulder, and again, if you want to use the medical term, it’s adhesive capitis and it’s an adhesion or a cobweb of scarring around the shoulder. So, remember when we get in that initial pain phase, you don’t have as much limited movement. The second phase though, is the freezing phase. That’s when the arm isn’t moving and that’s where you really need to inter intercede if you haven’t, because remember with the inflammation phase, that’s the best time to use steroids like a cortisone shot. Unless you’re a diabetic, then you may want to try something that doesn’t raise your blood sugar. Right? There are other types of injections we’ve talked about this PRP or the platelet-rich plasma that has anti-inflammatory factors from your own blood. It’s a great, a great indication for that. you also can have other types of shots that are being looked at now, things like numbing medicines like Novacaine or longer lasting numbing medicines or even things like Toradol, which are an anti-inflammatory that doesn’t quite have the effect of the blood sugar elevation in a diabetic.

Speaker 4: 12:51
So out of, out of let’s just say 10 patients that come in with shoulder pain, how many are suffering from froze shoulder and how many are suffering from like, something more serious like a rotator cuff tear?

Speaker 5: 13:03
I’d say in my practice, probably one or two will have a frozen shoulder. And the rotator cuff doesn’t have to be torn, but it can be inflamed. I’d say that’s five or six out of 10 for me. Okay. And then they’re there, you know, the arthritis conditions where you get just a worn-out cartilage where bone rubs bone on bone, much like we talked about with hip and knee replacements, shoulders are less commonly arthritic and they’re less commonly worked on because you don’t walk on your shoulder. So, most people put up with shoulder arthritis, but you know, one reason your shoulder doesn’t move. Maybe you’ve just got a big bone spur and a crappy shoulder on an x-ray and a simple x-ray can tell you if you’ve got arthritis. So, today’s talk is not about arthritis, right? It’s not about rotator cuff tears, it’s about the lining. And that stiffening we get,

Speaker 4: 13:47
Why did I get this? Why, why did this happen? If that’s the case,

Speaker 5: 13:50
Well again, there are a couple things that we don’t know and a couple things we are hoping to find out. One is, you know, are these, it’s called an ICAM molecule. And there’s a finding of this molecule in people who get scar tissue in their shoulder. There’s also factors where a nerve factor gets increased in the bloodstream to generate some of the pain. So, the body says, ‘we need to send some recruiting cells or some inflammation cells to try to help the shoulder.” Well, that may increase pain also.
So why do people get pain with it? We’re not really sure. We know the risk factors with diabetes have an association, but we often see people with diabetes have a little stiffer problem with their knee replacements. They have more trouble fighting infections. Some association with thyroid and cardiovascular disease. Simply just immobilization, or lack of moving, right? So, when grandpa’s watching Netflix all day and not lifting his arm up once or twice over his head, that shoulder can get stiff and lose movement.

Speaker 4: 15:0
Give me that saying again. What is it? Motion is…?

Speaker 5: 15:03
“Motion is lotion”. If have a loved one that you care for every day, be sure to take their arm and grab it by their wrist, and lift it over their head like they’re doing a touchdown. Just like a referee in football.

Speaker 4: 15:17
All right, well that’s it. So, you say these ages, between 40 and 60, maybe more women than men?

Speaker 5: 15:24
Well definitely more women. Almost five to one. Women to men. Five to one, yeah. Much more common in women. And again, we talked about the non-dominant arm a little more common than the dominant arm. So, let’s move into that phase of the disease process. We talked about that first phase was inflammation and more pain. Yeah – and not as much limitation of motion. Now the freezing phase is the stiff shoulder. So that’s where if, you’ve seen me for this, let’s say your family doctor saw you. He says, boy, this arm’s not moving much, now they’re having pain. I want you to go see an orthopedic surgeon. Your surgeon may do that shot into the joint or where they think it’s appropriate, based on your medical history and risk factors. And then send you to therapy. And then we’ll say, are you making progress, Terry? Are you each week seeing a better range of motion forward and back? Can you reach back to your belt yet?

Speaker 4: 16:12
So how often do I see, or do you send me to the therapist, I come back how often?

Speaker 5: 16:16
What I would do is see you once and I would probably give you a shot in your shoulder, and use an ultrasound to make sure I’m in the shoulder joint. Okay. And then I’d say, how’s that feel? And you go, wow, that feels a lot better. I usually use some Novacaine or numbing medicine with a steroid in the joint that cuts down the inflammation. But the, the numbing part is like the feedback you get when your lips numb at the dentist. You go, wow, I don’t have any pain anymore. Well, I know I’m in the right place then. So, you know, it’s not a neck problem, it’s not a nerve problem. It’s not your, you know, elbow, it’s your shoulder. That’s the source of your pain. Then you go to therapy and I ask you to come and see me back in six weeks and I go, how you doing? You go like, Hey, I’m better. I can, I can comb my hair, I can reach almost to my belt, but I can’t get up to my bra if I’m a woman and I can’t really reach up and get my seatbelt if I’m, if I’m in the passenger seat because I don’t have that what’s called outward or what’s called external rotation. So, I have to cheat and use my other arm or I have to find things that I’m not able to do, like tuck my shirt in. So, then I’d say, well Terry, I think we try another shot since you’ve gotten better with one shot, right? And let’s try to avoid surgeries and crazy, you know, what are called invasive procedures?

Speaker 4: 17:21
The idea of the shot is to get you to get the mobility to break the cobwebs.

Speaker 5: 17:26
Also, to allow you to do your therapy because if it hurts to move it, it’s like chewing on a bad tooth. It’s like more chewing isn’t help your tooth, right? Right. So, what I’m trying to do is I’m trying to, I’m trying to take that squeaky hinge on a door, spray it and say it’s pretty good. But if it starts to squeak a little in six weeks, I’m going to spray it again. Yeah. Because to me I know 90% of my people at 12 weeks are going to do pretty well. Now let’s say you’ve gone to therapy, it’s eight weeks now. You are not progressing. And I always tell people if your elbow’s not going any higher away from your body, and the only way it goes higher is when you bend to the opposite side your motion and the joint’s not improving. And I always tell people it’s like a doorstop where the door doesn’t open more the door jamb is blocking it. Well, that isn’t going to keep improving until you move the doorstop away. If your motion isn’t getting better with therapy, then it may be time to find what can be done to get the shoulder to move better? Okay.

Speaker 4: 18:22
Are we good? Talking

Speaker 5: 18:23
About surgery now, and this may be where you talk about surgery. So, there’s two types of ways we treat this. We talk about manipulating or moving the, body part under anesthesia. They give you some light sedation, usually in an IV, much like we do if your shoulder pops out in the emergency room. They give you some medicine in an IV, it relaxes you, the doctor pops it into place and you’re like, well that feels a lot better. Right? So, we can move the shoulder forward. Like you’re going to raise your arms straight up like the statue of liberty, right? Or we can make it move out to the side like a chicken wing. But what I can’t do with manipulation is get the part where you reach back to your pocket when you’re going to pay my bill or when you’re going to reach out to a seatbelt where you, what’s called externally rotate. Yeah. Those rotation movements require me to torque your arm to get that, that rotation movement much like a pitcher throwing a ball. So, you

Speaker 4: 19:13
So, you can’t do that when they’re

Speaker 5: 19:14
No, you can’t. Well, you can, but if I do it with you in a sedated state, I could break your arm by having to torque your arm…not good.

Speaker 5: 19:20
What are you doing in that case?
In that case, I don’t like a manipulation. If I have to take you to surgery to get your arm to move, I’m going to do a shoulder scope. I’m going to look in your shoulder with a light, just like a scope of a knee where we look in with two little holes and then we can loosen the tight tissue surgically with a laser, type of a laser thing called a bipolar device. And it literally loosens and we can watch the arm move and we know now it’s safe to move the arm and I’m not going to break your arm trying to turn it and I can watch the arm move in nine different directions. This is what a shoulder does. Remember we’ve talked about knees and elbows. They just bend and straighten your elbow. Your shoulder has nine motions that have to get your arm in different, in your hand in different parts Right of space. Right. To climb a tree or throw a baseball to reach a seatbelt to reach back to tuck your shirt in. So, in surgery we can see in the joint sometimes there’s other things wrong in the shoulder. So, you’re

Speaker 4: 20:18
Looking at this with a camera, aka shoulder scope, while you’re moving my arm.

Speaker 5: 20:22
That’s correct. The first thing I’m going to do when you’re a asleep is examine where your arm has restrictions of motion… We talked about scar tissue or cobwebs, that cause a thickening of the lining called the capsule. The capsule can be loosened surgically by precisely releasing the tight structures. Then you can watch the arm the move and improved arc of motion. Once the arm moves freely, we send you right into therapy after surgery. We keep it moving just like you move that door: open and close. Just like after you spray the hinge with WD 40.

Speaker 4: 21:29
How long do I have a sling? What goes on after surgery?

Speaker 5: 21:34
Not very long in a sling. We want your arm in a sling because the arm nerve block will deaden all the pain, but also flop around without support. After the block medicine wears off, usually 12-24 hours after surgery, movement should start, to keep it moving. That’s the best way to have a shoulder manipulation in my opinion, because it gives you a safe, controlled release of the tight capsule, and pain relief after surgery.

Speaker 4: 22:09
Of the questions I forgot to ask is, and this was interesting, I thought, well it must be I’m right-handed. I’m pitching a baseball. That must be the shoulder that’s going get frozen up. Does it have anything to do with your dominant arm or hand?

Speaker 5: 22:21
Well, we talked about it being a little more common in your non-dominant arm. The arm that you don’t use as much would be less active or utilized on a regular basis. If you always put a dish on a shelf with your dominant arm, you are keeping it stretched out.
Thus, stiffness more common in sedentary people. Someone who’s throwing bales of hay up into a loft is moving both shoulders pretty well every day. Not many of those laboring people get frozen shoulders.

Speaker 4: 22:47
So, if I want to prevent a frozen shoulder, or treat it on my own down here in my lonely basement, talk about exercises I should be doing?

Speaker 5: 22:56
Well, that’s a great question, Terry. There are a couple things you can do for yourself, and remember, it’s not just you, it might be for your loved ones or spouse. Caregivers should know this. Always ask if its ok to help move the shoulders forward and away from the body. Then, hold the wrist and grab above the hand, and lift the arm overhead. Just think of it like the Statue of Liberty. A few times a day is fine, and include both arms. Also, you should reach back to your belt, using a stick, golf club, or a towel, and stretch the arm behind towards your back. This motion is called internal rotation. I always talk about the Rockettes who are swinging their arms side to side. But also, if you work on reaching behind, you will be able to tuck your shirt in, push a belt thru a loop in your pants, and wash yourself. Reach toward the middle of your back, helpful for getting to a bra strap. Reaching a seat belt in a passenger seat and putting on your coat uses external rotation, So, those movements are all coordinated by the rotation of the shoulder joint. They’re restricted in a case where the lining is tight in an adhesive capsulitis.

Speaker 4: 24:13
Call these preventative steps, right? Doing these exercises may prevent you from coming in with a frozen shoulder?

Speaker 5: 24:18
Absolutely. The other thing that’s really simple can be found in your favorite hardware store. An overhead pulley that goes on the top of the door, can have one’s good arm pull the stiff arm up. Also, stretch tubing, or TheraBand, attach to a door knob and you enable you to rotate the shoulder in or out. Always keep your elbow tucked- in. I always tell people to put a book underneath their elbow between their chest wall and rotate the arm out and in. This stretches and strengthens the shoulder. As the tubing color darkens, the resistance is higher.

Speaker 4: 24:50
How does this tubing technique look?

Speaker 5: 24:52
You’re doing it all wrong. Moving your elbow away from your body doesn’t rotate the shoulder. Your book just fell out from under your arm! Instead, use tubing with your elbow in. I always tell people, if you’re Napoleon with your hand in your shirt, that’s the position to start in. And then you just turn your hand out like you’re going shake hands.

Speaker 4: 25:07
How far should it go? Because here I’m trying to do it. Am I going far enough?

Speaker 5: 25:10
You’re not going as far as I am. How often is best? Daily! And as we all age, we all get a little less limber, right? Or flexible. Certainly yoga, Pilates, swimming, martial arts…even water is awesome for keeping the shoulder from stiffening. Water exercises are probably the best thing you can do for a lot of joints, as there is only 25% of force in water that there is an air. The body doesn’t have as much force to overcome to raise up one’s arm. That’s why you see, the horses in water therapy after an injury to get faster recovery. Some physical therapy departments have water therapy for humans that we use after shoulder or knee surgery. The water’s a great thing if the insurance covers that service, and your therapy facility has that capability.

Speaker 4: 26:00
One of the things when I talked to you a year or two ago was about my shoulder hurting, right? This frozed-up shoulder is obviously what it was. Cause then you told me to take Boswellia and Curcumin with black pepper extract.

Speaker 4: 26:13
I get it at Costco in a big orange bottle and you know, I’ll say three weeks later, my shoulder wasn’t bothering me much. This obviously kind of has to play into that as well.

Speaker 5: 26:24
Well, again, you probably were in what we call the early phase of a frozen shoulder, where the shoulder was inflamed, but not completely stiff. It wasn’t ‘frozed’ as they say. But then the anti-inflammatory effects of Boswellia or the curcumin may have helped. We talked on our podcast about safe alternatives for helping fight inflammation, right? Instead of taking a Motrin or Aleve, (nothing against those over-the-counter meds), one would expect fewer GI or kidney side effects with these nutraceuticals you can find at a health food store. And if they work great for your headaches or cramps, you can take them occasionally, but don’t stay on them long term, right?
Buyer beware: herbal remedies have various levels of effectiveness, so do your diligence when picking brands. The FDA, which is busy in the United States with vaccines and medicines, doesn’t regulate the vitamin industry. Anyone can sell a brand that has 15% of what the label says on a shelf in the United States, which may be ineffective. If you don’t get a benefit from whatever you’re using to treat your affliction within about six weeks, probably change brands or try a different family of remedies. Finally, USP.org will tell you if certain brands at least have in the bottle that’s on the label.

Speaker 4: 27:59
Okay? So, as we wrap this podcast up, have I not asked you any questions I should have asked you?

Speaker 5: 28:06
No. You’ve done a great job today. We hope to say more with less time.

In summary, a frozen shoulder is a spectrum of symptoms and findings. First it may present as a painful dull aches or bothersome sleep. Then it stiffens and one loses motion as the pain lessens. Then it thaws out over time. Its natural history is usually benign, but it takes 2-3 years to go thru the various phases. I tell people if you’re Tom Hanks on a desert island and you get a frozen shoulder, it will eventually resolve itself whether you do anything with it or not. But seeking early attention from your health care provider may ease symptoms sooner and prevent the stiffening phase from occurring.
I think getting aggressive early is the fastest way to make it better and avoid a stiffening problem later.

Speaker 4: 29:51
So, if our listeners out there are interested in coming into your office, how do they get reach you? What is the way? Is that DrJohnUrse.com?

Speaker 5: 29:58
Yes, Terry, most of my contact info is on that website, which is has all our podcasts and our blog articles. Also, OAdoctors.com, is our group, Orthopedic Associates of Southwest Ohio. We have over 20 physicians and many healthcare providers in various offices all around Southwestern and Western Ohio. We have a walk-in clinic every evening from 5-8pm, no appointment needed, at our 7677 Yankee Rd office in Dayton, Ohio. Any of those providers will have the ability to examine patients, diagnose a problem, and help people with their issues.
You can always request me if you prefer. But I’ve got some really good people around me in my office that treat this frozen shoulder or other problems.

Speaker 4: 30:47
This has been another episode of the Bone and Joint Playbook with Dr. John Urse. This is Terry O’Brien from TriLevel Records. I will leave you with this thought: I am going to the Schuster Center on Thursday night to see “Frozen”. And the whole time I’m watching it now, I’m going think they could do a musical about Frozen Shoulder.

Speaker 5: 31:04
Thanks to everybody for listening, and a shout out to our sponsor, Ted’s Dressing. Available at many Kroger, Dorothy Lane, and Dot’s Markets.
I think if you’re going keep mentioning Costco, we’ll have to call them and see if they want to pony up for sponsor dollars. I think they provide some of the nutraceuticals you were talking about, some of the supplements and things.

Speaker 4: 31:25
That’s where I get them. Costco. All right, guys, thank you very much for joining us.
We’ll see you again on another episode of The Bone and Joint Playbook with Dr. John Urse. Listen on Spotify, Apple, I-heart Radio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Speaker 6: 31:36
Please join us again for another episode produced by Terry O’Brien.
All content © 2023 The Bone and Joint Playbook, Tips for pain-free aging. Presented by Dr. John Urse.

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